Elsa and the Magical School
by flame7926
Summary: Elsa, Princess of Arendelle, needs help controlling her magic. What is the best place to learn magic? Hogwarts! Join Elsa as she discovers an entirely new world of mystique and fantasy, and joins her new friends on amazing adventures. The ability to control snow and ice proves to be quite useful, but how much control can Elsa actually achieve over her powers?
1. Chapter 1

Day 1:

Ice shot out of my fingertips, uncontrolled. The mirror above my dresser shattered. My reflection turned to fragments then disappeared as the shards of glass fell.

Tears streamed down my face, and I raised my hands to my cheeks. Tiny ice crystals followed their path, one trail below each eye. The cold didn't bother me, but the physical sensation of having frozen ice on my cheeks still wasn't pleasant. Prickly, almost as if something had dried there. Which it had, in a way.

Concentrating on the physical sensation was a good way to distract myself from the fact that my whole world was crumbling. In the years since I'd been for all intents and purposes exiled to my room, told to get my powers under control, the powers had just gotten more erratic and wild. Entirely unhelpful, being on my own was. I just got upset hearing Anna prance outside my room with her god-awful singing about snowmen. Didn't she know I'd join her if I could?

I wasn't allowed to, though. My father tells me, every time I ask him about my powers, that I must conceal them, conceal my emotions, become entirely stable on my own. Until then I'm a danger to everyone. And I believe him. Enough anyway. I'm not going to do anything dangerous, but with my powers growing each passing day, the list of permitted activities shrinks.

In truth, no one has actually forbidden me from doing anything. I'm quite self-governing. They're all scared of me. As well they should be, with what I can do. And that is why the tears and anger come. The world is gloriously unfair and grows worse with each passing day.

Day 2:

I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs placed on a tray on my bedside table. Not the smell of them being placed there, but the smell of bacon and the smell of eggs, because they were on my bedside table and not in the dining room or kitchen like they usually are. Someone must have noticed my miniature tantrum last night and decided I was too volatile to come down for breakfast. I could still go anyway, but their fear of me, indicated by the tray in my room, dissuaded any thought I might have had of doing that. Though they are all much too afraid to order me around they still left small hints and signs like that and end up dictating my behavior anyway.

After devouring my breakfast, (sprouting ice from your fingers uses lots of energy) I walked over to my dresser. The mirror that had shattered last night had been replaced and the shards of glass cleaned up. It was like nothing had ever happened. Except for the breakfast in bed. I don't know why they bothered cleaning up after me. Something else would just break soon enough, get covered in ice, have to be defrosted etc.

The mirror showed a girl. Me. Elsa, Princess of Arendelle. Blonde, almost white hair, blue eyes. Eleven years old. I sound like I'd look pretty normal, but there's something off-putting about my visual appearance. My hair and skin are almost the same color and that along with my almost overly large eyes disturbs some people. Whatever. I have enough problems to deal with without caring about that.

Brushing some stray strands of hair out of my face, I pulled open the proper drawers and dressed. Tutoring sessions began at nine o'clock. While I'd been isolated ever since my accident, I still learned and was taught. My parents didn't want me to be isolated and ignorant when I emerged to take a role in society. They just wanted me emotionless. Frozen.

I sighed. Nothing to be done about that. Satisfying them was the only way to justify freedom to myself. I didn't want to pose a risk to everyone I came in contact with.

If I only had someone to teach me to control my powers. My life would be about a million times better than it was. I just needed someone who knew what they were doing with this ice magic. What I could and couldn't do. The mystery of it all made me nervous to experiment. Experimenting might help with control, but I couldn't risk destroying the castle or anything. The magic was too unpredictable. My parents were helpless in this area. They were worse, actually, since showing their fear just made me more hesitant and volatile. I needed a magic teacher.

Instead I was going to get a math tutor. That was the first lesson, at nine. I pulled out my homework and placed it on my desk in preparation. The clock above me ticked back and forth repetitively, time dragging on like a turtle on a leisurely stroll. I glanced out the window but quickly averted my eyes from the trees covered in leaves, the green grass looking oh so inviting. I wasn't forbidden from going outside, but again, I was much more likely to be discovered by the citizens if I went outside. So no outside for me.

My eyes roved back to the clock and the papers on the desk, then to the door. Boredom set in. Not that I wasn't bored before, but I still had fifteen minutes in which to do nothing before my teacher came.

I heard a sharp knock to my right. A tap on glass. Confused, I looked to the window. An owl knocking its beak on the glass. Weren't owls nocturnal?

The bird's silhouette blocked the view of the garden below. Gray and black feathers overlapped in a large, oval shaped blob. The owl appeared overweight, but then again, what did I know about owls?

What should I do about this? I sat frozen in my chair, not willing to leave my room to get someone. The knocking continued, an insistent look in the owl's eyes.

After maybe a minute of this I stood up and walked over to the window. The bird stopped its tapping and held out its talon. Frightfully sharp, they were. I flinched back, before finally realizing it had a letter attached to its foot. A messenger owl. What the hell? I'd heard of messenger pigeons and hunting hawks, but who would go through the work of teaching an owl to deliver mail?

Though the owl still frightened me I pulled my rarely used courage together and opened the window a crack. The claw shot through and I jumped, then saw that it was simply sticking the attached letter where I could reach it. I took the letter from the owl. Once it retracted its foot I slammed the window shut, not wanting to risk the vicious looking bird somehow getting into my room.

I returned to my desk and unrolled the letter. A seal at the top was divided into four quadrants, an animal and associated color in each. A Latin motto surrounded the seal. I couldn't translate anything besides "draco", which meant dragon.

Aid if you're wondering why I examined the top of the letter so carefully before looking down farther, it's because I wanted to savor it as long as I could. Not because I suspected just how wonderful it would turn out to be, but more because it represented a change in the dull routine. I had lessons, meals, read some, potentially broke down sobbing, went to bed and repeated. This letter was a break in the monotony.

After taking in the seal my eyes roamed down to the actual contents of the letter. The letterhead said Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, followed by Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, assorted titles and an incredibly vague location.

My breath caught at "Witchcraft". In our world, witches weren't good. At least, they weren't perceived that way in general. It's not like I'd ever met one to personally verify. But "school". At first glance, they taught magic. This could be the answer to my prayers.

I rapidly read the rest of the letter. Apparently, my name had been down since that incident with the frozen brain of Anna's where the trolls saved her. The rock trolls had some kind of contact with Hogwarts and submitted my name for consideration. I'd been accepted. The taught wanded and elemental magic, though from what I gathered the wanded type was more common. The school was located in some place called Scotland, which the trolls would help me get to. I'd buy my school supplies, spend a night in an inn, and take a 'train', whatever that was, to school the next day.

It all seemed overwhelming. Details, names, places and various lists almost completely filled the page and scattered into my brain. Or more likely through it; I only absorbed a small fraction of what the letter contained with my first read.

School though. Actually teaching me how to control my magic. I'd be away from my family but that was irrelevant given how little I currently saw them. Excitement bubbled up; my veins felt like they were on fire. Or more like they were tingly with cold. Ice princess here.

I took one more glance at the letter. It didn't describe a method to RSVP so I assumed that contacting the trolls would be enough to put me on a path to attendance. Which meant I'd have to talk to my parents.

I deflated_, _but only partially. The undercurrent of anticipation was still present. I just needed to convince my parents to send me to a place that would help me not be a violent monster. Should be easy, right?

I could barely keep still through the morning tutoring sessions. As the last tutor left I jumped up from my seat and ran over to my dresser. I stripped fast, hurriedly changing to clothes more fitting for a royal luncheon.

A few quick strokes of a brush through my hair sufficed to calm the tangled mess down marginally. I then proceeded to slip on socks and shoes and run to my door, throwing it open. Then I spun back around, realizing I'd forgotten the letter from Hogwarts. That would be important.

The private dining room was set for four; an intimate meal. Like always since we never had any guests. The gates of the castle were shut. Presumably so I didn't maim guests with icicles. Made sense, in a fashion.

My mother and father both looked up when I entered, while Anna kept focused on her plate, her face shrouded by her adorable brown ringlets.

A look of fright crossed my mother's face before being quickly suppressed.

"Oh, Elsa!" She exclaimed, standing up. "We're so glad you felt well enough to come down."

"Your place is set. Please sit." My father's gruff voice echoed through the hall, empty except for the small table and us four.

I sat. While I was glaring back at my father Anna looked up at me for a split second. I caught her out of the corner of my eye and turned towards her but she looked back down immediately, grumbling.

My mother rolled her eyes at Anna's antics and gave me a sympathetic glance. My father, on the other hand, furrowed his brows at me.

"Please don't harass your sister, Elsa," he said firmly. "She's had a tough enough time not being able to play with other kids. She doesn't need you taunting her and looking at her funny."

I hoped that at some point my father would realize just how ridiculous he sounded. He'd always liked Anna better but after the accident I couldn't so much as wish her good morning without him jumping in protectively. I hated my father.

The food came, breaking the awkward silence that developed following my father's admonishment of me. I looked down at my plate. Mashed potatoes, boiled fish, and fried crispy fish. In Arendelle, surrounded by the sea, fish was paramount. Vegetable, grain, meat, fat, fruit. It was everything. Or at least the cook thought that way. Every meal had at least two types of fish in it.

I ate quietly, finishing first. When my father appeared to be devouring a particularly tasty morsel of herring I spoke up.

"Dad?"

"Mhmm?"

He couldn't be bothered with a vocal response but at least he focused his eyes on me. Those beady little orbs. I hated my father.

"I received a letter today," I said, as calmly as I could. "It says it's from a school, and they want me to go there."

He frowned, his bushy eyebrows coming together. "And why would they want an eleven year old princess with no skills of note to go there? Moreover, what can they teach you you can't learn here?"

I panicked for a second. How could I explain this?

"They're pretty reclusive people, so you may not have heard of them. From the letter it seems like they take in children of nobles who aren't going to normal school. Give them some real world experience. And, they teach meditation. Emotional control."

I raised my eyebrow significantly. He tried to hide it but I could see his enthusiasm growing at that last part. He still wanted me to be queen, and to do that I'd have to get my powers under control.

He still had one more argument left, this one more formality than anything.

"But this place will be expensive, won't it?"

Everything I'd said up until now had been the truth, in a way. If you used nobles to mean magical people. To answer this I'd have to lie through my teeth.

I smiled up at my dad, feeling Anna's eyes on me. "No, the school is free. Someone died and gave a bunch of money so there's no need to pay."

I sat patiently as he whispered to my mother. Her opinion didn't matter in the decision making. That's why I hadn't asked her, even though she'd be much more likely to say yes off the bat, given that she actually liked me.

Finally he turned back towards me.

"You can go to school," he announced.

I heard a sharp intake of breath from Anna. It's not like she acknowledged me these days though, so I didn't see why she should care.

Inside I was bursting with glee but I had to maintain a calm façade for the rest of lunch. That's one of the hardest things I've ever done.

When it was finally over I rushed back to my room and screamed at the top if my lungs. Freedom! And an opportunity to control my powers! What more could one want?

Day 3

If you saw how quickly my family and the servants prepared for my departure, you'd think they actually wanted me to leave. Which wouldn't be too far off the mark.

My stuff was packed early in the morning. Much before my normal time to wake up a servant shook me hard.

"Get up!" he hissed. "It's time for you to go."

I groggily pushed the covers down and swung my feet onto the cold wood floor. Thankfully my slippers were only a few feet away. Not that the cold bothered me, but the floor was still hard and slippers were like walking on a portable rug.

Soon I stood in the entrance hall. My parents waited by the carriage which was prepared to take me away.

My mother stepped forward to give me a hug.

"I love you Elsa. I'll miss you. I hope you enjoy yourself so much." She brushed a tear from her eye. "I don't have much advice to give you, but I hope you'll behave and learn a lot. This seems like it could be an amazing opportunity. Just take advantage of it."

I nodded and retracted from her hug. I didn't trust that I'd be able to talk without becoming emotional.

My dad was next. He pursed his lips, then shook my hand. I smirked up at him. How absurd. I was mostly over his rejection of me. Mostly. I might have a miserable carriage ride thinking about him, but the sad fury wouldn't last.

My mother wrapped an arm around my father and pulled him to the side, resting her head on his shoulder.

Anna appeared from behind them. I flinched in surprise. She should be asleep. Not to mention sullen over my inability to interact with her. She sniffled as she approached me.

"I'll miss you so much!" she sobbed into my shoulder.

I patted her on the back, burying my face in her soft brown hair which smelled freshly of flowers. I did love her, though she'd been a bit peeved at me for the past months and years.

"I'll miss you too, Anna. Be good now."

"Uh-uh," she agreed, voice muffled in my shirt.

"And when I get back we can build a snowman, okay?"

She pulled back, looking into my eyes. "You really mean it?"

"Of course," I said solemnly.

She fled back to my mom's arms then, but with a smile on her face.

Well. The carriage awaited. I slowly stepped forward. Leaving wasn't something to be rushed. There was no reason to hurry, except for the sobs threatening to escape their confinement inside of me.

The two horses neighed as I approached the assembly. A friendly greeting. Eventually I reached the door of the carriage. I could feel the chill of the metal handle through my gloves. My touch didn't warm it up at all. I opened the door and turned around, standing on the runner-board. One last wave to my family.

"I love you guys," I called out, then quickly fled inside and buried my head in the pillows. I didn't want to think about them anymore. Anna and my mom. And my dad. It was just too much.

I suppressed the emotions for long enough to tell the driver to get going,

Once the horses started up the tears started flowing. I was angry at myself for allowing them to come out. I should be excited, not unhappy. And I was very excited, but this was the only home I'd ever known and I wouldn't see my sister or mother until Christmas. I'd miss their hugs, their scorn, simply the interactions with them. I wouldn't miss my dad.

And that was the thought that broke me out of my sadness. He'd be incredibly conflicted between wanting me to succeed and be able to become queen and his constant desire for me to do worse than Anna and to fail at everything.

The conundrum in desires he faced brought a gleeful smile to my lips. It remained there as my thoughts settled into a more relaxed pattern, anticipating what was to come.


	2. Chapter 2

Day 3:

The roads decreased in quality as we progressed on our journey. Cobblestone turned to packed dirt turned to loose gravel and dust and potholes. I tried falling asleep but each dip jolted my head and body out of position. As such, it was impossible to get any rest. I settled for waiting, hands clutching the seat to keep me from getting too thrown around.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the clearing in which the rock trolls resided opened up before us. The carriage careened to a halt a few feet from the edge, the horses perhaps sensing something slightly strange about the large round rocks. I opened my door as soon as we stopped. I was eager to start my adventure. Though this was only the beginning it was still a step forward. Progress.

The driver of the carriage hopped off also and started unloading my suitcases. Much too much had been packed if you ask me, but of course no one did while the packing was in progress.

As the last case was set down I heard a rumble to our right. I turned in that direction. It appeared that all the rocks were rolling towards us. The horses whinnied, scared of the strangely moving boulders. I didn't blame them. There was something deeply unsetting about seeing rocks move without any outside impetus.

The driver of the carriage looked between the rocks, me, and his horses, face a mask of indecision. I made his choice for him.

"It's alright, you can go. I'm fine here."

He nodded quickly and jumped back onto the carriage. A swish of the reigns set the horses back on a path for Arendelle.

And I was alone once again.

"Honey?" A soft voice came from the direction of the rock trolls.

I turned that way, making sure to compose my face in a happy expression. They had arranged this whole thing after all. The least I could do was show some gratitude.

"Uhh, hi," I said, facing the rocks. "I'm Elsa."

At once, the instant I said my name, the field of boulders _unfolded_, each individual rock becoming a squat, somewhat humanoid creature. I steeled myself at the clear violation of any type of spatial law: the appendages of the rocks could in no way fit together to make a round object.

"We're so happy you're here!" This came from a shortish troll a little to my left. The voice was feminine, motherly.

I smiled. "I'm glad to be here too. Thanks so much for letting me stay here."

"Oh, of course," she replied graciously. "I'm Maya, by the way. We were so happy when Hogwarts said that you could go to school there. When we saw you last, it seemed like your powers would cause you more than your fair share of trouble in the future. That should get straightened out during your time in school. At least partially. But look at me: talking up a storm. Let's get you settled into your bedroom."

The rest of the trolls stared at me as I walked through their midst, following Maya. A few whispers by what I assumed were kids got quickly shushed by nearby adults. Stony, silent faces, one and all. Not hostile. Not entirely welcoming either.

It took less than a minute to reach the other side of the clearing. By that point I'd passed trolls of every shape and size. My living quarters consisted of a cave, containing a bed in the center and shelves on the walls. I had no idea where they'd gotten a mattress for the bed. I supposed they might have made it like they made the bed or shelves, themselves just blocks of rock, but the trolls' appendages were fat and stubby, presumably not possessing the nimble-ness needed for needlework.

Yes, I do like alliterations.

I didn't notice this until we were standing in the cave, but three other trolls had picked up my luggage and carried it to the cave. Their size surprised me and I was left speechless as they walked away again. Probably off to tell their friends how rude I was for not saying thank you. Well, it's not my fault I'm the tiniest bit scared of giant moving rocks that could crush me if they wanted to.

Maya left me alone after a few attempts to draw me into conversation. She seemed slightly deferential to me the whole time she was with me, and it wasn't just because I was a guest. I lay on the bed thinking about that. Strange. I sunk into the soft mattress, head resting on a plump pillow. So comfy…

Day 20:

When I next saw the sun I almost fell out of bed in shock. I'd fallen asleep in the middle of the day. It was now morning. I shouldn't sleep that long. I definitely wasn't tired enough for it. Maybe it was the new location or something.

I walked out to the clearing and saw the trolls eating what I presumed was breakfast. The strangest thing I've ever seen was a bird eating then regurgitating a slimy concoction into its babies' mouths. The troll breakfast was a close second.

The trolls appeared to take turn acting as tables, lying back up in between two or three other trolls who squatted to the sides. The tables were laden with a vast assortment of pebbles, stones, and other earthly materials. Strange as the food itself was, that was nothing compared to the eating process. Trolls would pick up the stones as you or I would pick up an apple. Inspect it for defects. Eye it carefully. Then stick it in their mouth.

The crunches when the trolls chewed most disturbed me. A combination of the groan of an extremely old man and a gravel road crunching underfoot. Incredibly unpleasant to human ears. There was a screech element to the noise as well, like a metal object being twisted and torqued.

Thankfully the meal didn't last too long. When it was over someone finally saw fit to speak to me. Not Maya. This troll was taller, not quite as fat, and distinctly male. At least he had the same cheerful look in his eyes that Maya had had, so unlike the complete disregard most of the other trolls seemed to have for me.

The troll introduced himself. "So, Elsa, I'm Henry. How'd you sleep?"

"Good," I responded. "How long was I asleep? It didn't feel that long but suddenly it's morning…"

He smirked knowingly. "Oh, not too long. We just didn't want you bored here, so we put you to sleep until it was time to go to Diagon Alley and shop."

"Okay," I said, not quite fully processing what he was saying. Sleep addled brain and all.

He started talking again but before he could get more than few words out my brain caught up with the conversation.

"Wait!" I cut in, "How long did you say I was out for?"

"I didn't…" Suddenly Henry looked a lot less upbeat.

"But you said I leave today and have been asleep since I got here," I stated flatly.

"Yep!"

I frowned, moving closer to him and planting my hands on my hips.

"So you trolls charmed me to sleep seventeen days! Without asking me or anything. How in the hell is that an okay thing to do?"

"Umm, well see here sis," Henry started, enthusiasm deflating, "it wasn't my decision. It just happened. If it was up to me it wouldn'a happened, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. And now you're awake again, so no harm done, right?"

I truly attempted to reign in my anger for a few moments to think. Yes, I was awake. But they lost me seventeen days of my life, seventeen days I could have spent gleefully anticipating Hogwarts. All gone! They were practically evil.

"You guys can't do something like this. Deprive me of my free will and put me to sleep just because you don't want to deal with me. Seriously, was it laziness or malice?"

Henry positively glowered down at me now. "Now listen here. This wasn't my idea at all. I didn't have anything to do with it. Did you really want to spend two weeks here with nothing to do while some of us tried to engage you in awkward conversation while the rest stared on? We spend most of our time resting or thinking in rock form. What the hell are we supposed to do with you?"

I sucked in a breath. I wasn't that much of a nuisance, was I? Well maybe not to humans.

"Okay," I relented. "I get it. You guys didn't want to deal with me. Okay. But still, can I leave now?"

Henry perked up at that. No more frowns for him. "Sure! In fact that was the plan. Do you want to eat first?"

I thought of the meal I'd heard and seen the trolls eating before and cringed. No thank you.

"Umm, I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you," I said, trying to be polite. Didn't want them to put me asleep for another few weeks and miss Hogwarts.

"Okay then. Your stuff's already been sent through. Follow me and I'll show you how to get to Diagon Alley to do shopping. We don't exactly fit in in normal society so no one's coming with you, but I'm sure you'll be fine. Just ask anyone if you need help. You still have your Hogwarts letter right? Oh and before I forget, here's the train ticket for the Hogwarts Express."

He handed me the ticket which I pocketed. I then followed him on another winding journey through the clearing of the stone faced rock trolls. He led me to an alcove in a large rock formation, almost like a fireplace. In fact, there was a fire burning in it.

I recoiled from the flames. Me and fire did not get along. A temperature some people could tolerate burned me. Not physically, but the pain felt like a burn.

"So now you need to grab a handful of the green powder from this can."

I took some in my left hand, grains of the fine powder flowing through my fingers. I could feel the inherent heat in it.

"Now all you have to do is throw it in the fire, call out _Diagon Alley,_ and jump into the fire. I promise it won't burn ya."

I looked at him skeptically. Jumping into a fire wouldn't burn me? Yeah right.

He grinned down at me. "C'mon girl. Sometime today would be nice. You won't feel a thing, even though you're more sensitive to heat than most."

Well, hopefully Hogwarts would be worth whatever pain I would experience. And I'd do almost anything to be done with the trolls at the moment. Nothing to do but jump in then.

I threw the handful of powder in, called out, "Diagon Alley!" watched the fire turn green, and jumped.

I landed with a thud on a stone hearth and rolled forward onto the wooden floor that surrounded it. Covered in ash, I stood up, patted myself down, and looked around.

It seemed that I was in some type of dining room. Tables and chairs were scattered somewhat randomly around the room, some occupied and some not. No one appeared the least bit startled by someone materializing and tumbling out of the fireplace. The people themselves were almost uniformly dressed in what one would think of as stereotypical wizard and witch gear. Maybe I was in some kind of wizard and witch secret world or something.

I continued looking around the room until I made eye contact with someone. The first person to meet my gaze stood behind a desk, a small bell on top. I walked over there, somewhat apprehensive. I really had no idea what I was doing.

When I reached the counter I placed my forearms on the counter and stood on my tippy-toes to see over it.

The man smiled genially down at me and asked, "And just what would you be needing today?"

"What can I get?"

The man laughed. "Well we have rooms for rent. And food and drink too. An inn, this is. The Leaky Cauldron. You looking to shop at Diagon Alley today? Name's Tom, by the way. Proprietor."

"Well I'm supposed to have some luggage, did it come through the fireplace before me?"

"You mean the Floo? Yeah, some trunks and such came through. I piled them in the corner over there. Want a room to stick them in?"

He swept an arm in the direction of a dark and dusty corner, where I could barely make out what looked like my suitcases. I was about to order a room, since my letter had said I'd spend the night here, when I realized I had no money. Talk about an idiotic move. I had shopping to do too.

"No, uh, no room right now. I might be back later to get one."

"Okay. Do you want to go to Diagon Alley now?"

"Sure," I said, at a loss of what else to do with no money.

As Tom led me out the door I glanced forlornly at the fireplace. My only way back to my old world. More importantly, through there, at home, were my parents with money.

I followed Tom out and around the Leaky Cauldron. I got a bit scared as he led me into a dirty alley. I'd read my fair share of books in which bad things happened in dark alleys. It all turned out fine though when he stopped at a brick wall and pulled out what appeared to be a wand.

Well actually I wouldn't say it turned out fine. It turned out marvelously. I could only stare as Tom tapped a combination of bricks with his wand and the bricks started _moving._ Moving. The bricks. On their own. Because of a wooden stick a man was holding.

Marvelous is the right way to describe it. It was quite the marvel. But nothing compared to the sight that unfolded before me as the brick wall slowly folded in two.

This was no alley that lay in front of me. It was more like a winding, twisting thoroughfare. Wizards and witches of every race and ethnicity wandered around, some purposeful and some less so. A wide range of animals accompanied them, from cats to owls to something that actually looked to be a small dragon. As one might guess, the noise level was almost beyond my comfort zone. It awakened memories of market day back in Arendelle, but much more _exciting._ Magic does that, after all.

Tom watched me gaping at the sight and smirked. "Quite amazing, isn't it? If you don't need any more help now, I do have a business to run."

I nodded absentmindedly, still staring. I could see shops that sold everything on my supply list and so much more. Wandmakers, potions supplies, flying equipment stores, bookstores. Not to mention ice cream and joke shops. This place had everything.

As soon as I took a step forward the brick wall behind me shut again. Slightly disturbing, but I'd get back somehow. And if not I could just live here forever. That wouldn't be so bad.

I walked forward, still taking it all in. A few people stared at me and what I imagined was my somewhat strange appearance, but most ignored me, intent on their own business. I was wearing a silvery dress. I guessed it wasn't too out of place, but coupled with my skin, hair, and eye colors I warranted a second glance from some. Some dark robes would definitely help with that. They were one of the first things on my list as well.

Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions wasn't too far ahead of me so I headed there. I'd figure out how to pay after getting fitted. Maybe they had some kind of free deal for Hogwarts students or something. Which reminded me, what the hell was a train and how would it take me to Hogwarts?

I opened the door to the store, grasping the ornate handle firmly. A bell tinkled as I stepped into the store.

A woman with curly grey hair and baggy witches' robes on had her wand out, conducting a circus of measurement tools around a pissed off looking blond haired boy standing on a small raised platform. On another pedestal stood a black haired boy with glasses and incredibly messy hair, looking on in amusement and a fair amount of apprehension.

All three people looked to me as I entered before going back to their business. A clipboard, quill, and ink pot floated up to me and nudged me gently in the arm. I flailed around for a moment before realizing these things weren't attacking me and proceeded to look at the list closely. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the black haired boy smile at me sympathetically. On the other hand, the old lady doing the fitting clucked her tongue at my frazzled reaction. What had I gotten myself into, dealing with wizards and witches?


	3. Chapter 3

Day 20:

I put on my best puzzled and frightened face and looked at each of the two boys in turn, hoping to indicate my unfamiliarity with this type of magic. The sooner they knew that the sooner they'd start telling me the things about this world I needed to know.

The old woman doing the robe fitting explained: "Just pick up the quill and dip it in the ink, then write your name and what kind of robes you need down on the sheet, dearie. I presume Hogwarts first year? I'm Madame Malkin."

At least someone picked up on my signaling.

I did as she asked then stood there waiting for her to finish with the two people in the room.

After a few moments, Blondie, as I'd begun to call him in my head, saw fit to introduce himself.

"I'm Draco Malfoy," he said haughtily to both of us.

The other boy started walking over to shake his hand. Draco looked put out, wanting someone to recognize him and his importance. Trouble is, I had no idea who he was posturing out to be. The other person clearly didn't either.

"Umm, should I know who you are?" the other boy asked. "I'm new to this whole magic thing so I don't know about any royalty or anything. I'm Harry Potter by the way." He stuck out his hand to Draco.

Draco shook the hand delicately. "Never mind who I am, which is the heir and scion of the Malfoy family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Wizarding Britain. You're Harry Potter though! Most famous wizard in the world right now. I'm very pleased to meet you."

He adopted such a garish smile that I wondered cynically whether he hadn't gotten orders from his parents to cozy up to Harry.

Despite Draco's 'welcoming' comments Harry seemed taken aback by the attention. He staggered back a few steps, self-consciously tugging at his ragged shirt as he noticed all of us staring at him.

"So where have you been living?" Draco asked, pushing on despite Harry's discomfort.

"With my aunt and uncle."

"What are their last names? I can't believe we've never met them."

Harry glanced to me trying to find some support, but I wasn't going to butt into this. It was interesting seeing Draco at work. Getting Harry uncomfortable and off balance to get information. Though I did feel bad for the scraggly boy, a little.

Harry cleared his throat and said, "They aren't wizards, so I don't expect you know them."

Draco's face softened to settle on a more sympathetic expression. "Oh, I'm so sorry. That must have been awful, living with those Muggles."

Well that was a new word for my lexicon. Everyone who wasn't a wizard was a 'muggle'. Good to know.

Harry grunted, eyes focused on the ground. Draco searched the room for another topic of conversation, sensing Harry's discomfort. He settled on me.

"So what's your name?" Draco asked me.

"I'm Elsa, Princess of Arendelle," I announced in my most regal voice.

If I'd hoped to impress him it hadn't worked. Draco scowled at me.

"You're a mud-," he started before quickly correcting himself, "a Muggleborn, right?"

"Yes…"

"Well between you and me, Muggle royalty rarely means anything in the Wizarding world. Only money and power are important. We have our own royalty, of sorts." At this he stuck out his chest importantly.

If nothing else the boy clearly had a big ego. I almost scoffed before remembering my etiquette lessons and realizing I'd forgotten to curtsey. I needed to make friends, not alienate people.

"Thank you for the advice. I shall be sure to not use my title unless absolutely necessary." I walked over to him, curtseyed, and held out my hand.

He took it and motioned it towards his mouth, but didn't actually touch his lips to it.

"Pleased to meet you," he said.

"You as well. And you too, Harry."

"Umm, yeah," Harry mumbled.

Probably overwhelmed like I was.

Draco, Harry, and I struck up a friendly conversation as we waited for Madame Malkin to finish fitting us. Harry and Draco stayed while she measured me, so entangled in the conversation we were.

"Long and lithe, you are." Madame Malkin patted me on the shoulder. "Now that'll be two galleons."

I blanched. While talking I'd forgotten about my money woes. Worriedly, I felt through my pockets even though I knew I wouldn't find anything.

Harry and Draco noticed me fumbling around nervously. Draco rolled his eyes and faced the other direction while Harry threw me a sympathetic glance.

After a few more seconds elapsed, as it became more and more evident I wouldn't find anything, Harry spoke up.

"I'll pay for you," he said.

I looked at him shocked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "I have a bit of money here that I didn't know about before so I can cover this."

"Well thanks. I'll pay you back when I get money from home. Which I guess won't be until Christmas or next summer…"

Harry handed Madame Malkin the money for my robes. "You don't need to do that," he assured me. "I'm fine."

I thanked him once again and we left the store together, robes on our arms. Madame Malkin scowled at me as we left. Oh well. I wouldn't be seeing her for a while unless I had a growth spurt.

Draco turned to me as we left the store.

"You don't have any money with you?"

"No, I forgot to ask my parents for some when I left."

He sighed heavily. "Well here's a loan for your school supplies. I can't have my friends being poor."

Friends, and money? My day was looking up.

"I can't take this," I protested half-heartedly.

He smiled. "Yes you can. Just act like an aristocrat. Keep acting like you do, actually. And don't announce that you're a Muggleborn. Ever. Take money if someone gives it to you. You'll go far in our world."

He had a point. Many, actually. Smart boy, that Draco.

"Okay," I said. "Thank you. A ton."

"Don't mention it. Really, the Malfoys have a reputation to keep."

I smirked back at him, taking the coins in his hand. "I'm sure they do."

We walked a bit farther together, the three of us, until Harry suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" I asked.

He grimaced apologetically. "I remembered I'm supposed to meet back up with Hagrid now. He's been showing me around. He works with Hogwarts."

"That's fine," Draco said, as if Harry needed his permission to leave.

"Okay. I'll see you guys at Hogwarts then?"

"Yeah," Draco responded. "Or on the Hogwarts Express."

I waved good-bye to Harry and walked towards the bookstore with Draco. I barely caught Harry's whisper of, "What's the Hogwarts Express?" before we were out of hearing range. I liked both boys, as friends of course, but for all his arrogance Draco was definitely more entertaining so far.

I pulled out my letter with the list of required supplies on it. "So it looks like we need books for all of our classes, right?"

Draco rolled his eyes at me. "Yep. That's why we're going to Flourish and Blotts."

I rolled my eyes right back.

The bell above the door tinkled as Draco pulled the door open for me.

"Why thank you, my good sir," I said sardonically.

"Any time," he replied, sticking out his tongue.

We eventually found all the books we needed. The covers fascinated me. Moving pictures. I stared at our charms textbook for about five minutes, watching the wizards on the front lift objects with their wands before Draco nudged me with his elbow. The magic still surprised me every time I noticed it, so it wasn't my fault I stared and gawked. Not that the inside of the books wouldn't be interesting too. Even if they didn't have pictures.

The school textbooks would be helpful with the practical side of wand magic, but what about the elemental stuff, my ice magic? The introduction letter said Hogwarts taught it, but I hadn't seen anything on my class list about it. Maybe they simply meant that it was conductive to learning control or something. Well none of my textbooks seemed ideally suited to teaching me about that either.

While Draco waited impatiently at the register I hurriedly searched the shelves for something about mental relaxation or meditation. I'd heard one of my tutors discussing it with my parents one day, but it'd never been brought up again. Seemed like as good a thing as any to try. I finally found a book entitled _Mind Control: Control Yourself and Control Others. _Only half of it seemed applicable to my problem but the other half couldn't hurt. And besides, Draco glare hardened at every second that elapsed with him holding up the line.

"Sorry," I said, tossing my books down on the counter.

"What took you so long?" Draco asked as the cashier rang up our purchases.

I cringed. "Nothing, I just wanted a book."

"On what…"

"Umm, I'll tell you later. It's sorta private."

He looked at me skeptically but didn't say anything more. I guess an understanding of privacy and discretion was part of his aristocratic persona.

We left the book store together, only to be greeted the moment we got outside with an absolute assault on the eardrums. Well, it more felt like an attack on the soul than anything auditory. The voice spoke quietly, while still demanding more attention than you could possibly give.

"Draco! Come here," the voice demanded.

I turned to look at the source and was confronted by what seemed to be an aged clone of Draco. Same steel grey eyes, same mane of blond hair, same pale skin. Until this point I didn't know two different people could look so similar.

Draco had flinched when the man spoke and moved towards him, head down.

"Now Draco, we're still in public. You better act like it. Stand up straight and introduce me to your friend."

I wished I could shrink into the cobblestones, away from that keenly penetrating gaze.

Draco looked to me sympathetically.

"This is Elsa," he said. "I met her in Madame Malkin's while I was buying robes."

"Ah," the elder man intoned softly. He looked into my eyes and I immediately dropped my gaze, trying to stop my whole body from quaking. It wasn't that I was worried about though. It was the freezing in my fingertips, the crystals of frost forming on my nails. I needed to get out of this situation.

Before I did anything more the man spoke again.

"I am Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. I'm glad that Draco has found such a pretty girl to keep him occupied today, but unfortunately I must take him from you now. We have a lunch planned. Good bye."

And with that the older Malfoy spun on the heel of his black, presumably expensive shoe and stalked away. Draco gave me a wave and thumbs up over his shoulder as he followed his father, earning him a smack on the shoulder. I let out a sigh of relief as my magic calmed down again and my hands warmed up.

I completed the rest of my shopping by myself, using almost all the coins Draco had given me earlier. Everything seemed so strange that I was surprised I made it through the day without getting blown up by something on my shopping list. The only interesting event of note, besides my general bemusement with magical society, happened in the wand shop. Ollivander's.

The building of Ollivander's appeared to have been built a number of years ago. A very, very large number of years ago. The door creaked on its hinges as it swung open slowly. I entered a darkened room, filled with shelves holding small boxes, presumably wands. An ancient wood counter in front of me was the only thing visible in the house not designed specifically to hold wands. Besides Ollivander himself, of course. And even Ollivander carried a multitude of boxes in each arm as he wormed his way between shelves to the front of the store.

I waited patiently for him to make his way to me. When he finally made it he placed the wands down with a thump on the counter, nearly blocking my view of him.

"I'm Mr. Ollivander. You're in here to get your first wand, correct?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm Elsa."

"Hmm." He peered over the boxes of wands to take a closer look at me. "Well, nothing for us to do but try and see what works. How did you exhibit accidental magic?"

I shrunk back. It wasn't accidental, not at first. But maybe here everyone only had accidental magic or something until they got a wand.

"A lot of ice," I answered. 'A lot' was an understatement. I could freeze my whole room without breaking a sweat.

"Hmm, I see." Ollivander had his back turned to me, rooting through the shelves. Looking for something specific.

He finally found the one he was looking for and brought it to me.

"This is Ebony and unicorn hair. Now just give it a swish. Not too hard or anything, nice and gentle."

I picked the piece of wood up and waved it. Nothing. No tingle, nothing.

He frowned. "Erm, let me think. Oh I know what to try."

And so it went for a few more minutes. No reaction from any of the wands. Until he came to the Birch and dragon heartstring.

I'd had a suspicion none of the dragon ones would work since fire was the opposite of ice. I was wrong.

I picked up the wand tentatively, still unsure what would actually happen when one finally worked. The instant I raised the wand I felt a tingle run through my arm, like when my ice magic was in use.

I waved the want, left to right. A thrill of exhilaration bubbled up as frost came out the end, a fine spray. This was it! I was a witch, truly.

Ollivander clapped giddily and I grinned. A wand of my own. I'd been dreaming of this day, well, for three weeks or so. But still. It was incredibly exciting.

I paid and practically skipped through the rest of my shopping, making sure to save enough money for a room at the Leaky Cauldron. I barely had enough to pay for it, but the dinner was good and the bath was amazing.

As I lay down in my bed, I felt great. I'd made friends. I'd bought all my stuff and learned about the history and culture and society and everything. I'd accomplished something. And I'd been so distracted the whole day that my magic hadn't seriously flared up at all. _Life is great_. Tomorrow I'd board the train to Hogwarts, which promised to be even better.


	4. Chapter 4

Day 21:

I rose from my bed bright and early, excited for the day ahead. The sun streamed through my window. I looked at the clock hanging over my dresser as I rested on my elbows. Eight o'clock. More than enough time to have a nice breakfast before going to the train. Which I'd have to ask someone how to get to. Hopefully whatever method of transportation was necessary didn't cost money given that I didn't have any.

My nightgown slipped over my head easily and I rooted through my trunk for an applicable outfit for today. Something that made a good impression but wasn't too pretentious. Ah, I found just the thing. A nice light blue dress, a little looser than the one yesterday, but not casual enough to make me look like a complete slob. I considered wearing my Hogwarts robes since that seemed like what wizards wore most of the time. In the end they seemed too stuffy, and besides, wearing the uniform onto the train would probably seem weird. I still didn't know what a train was anyway.

Later at breakfast, the fingers on my right hand drummed rapidly on the table as I ate with my left. I didn't want to settle down today. Just keep moving. When I'd finished some type of porridge I waved to Tom, the innkeeper. When he finished his conversation with the person in front of him he came over to where I sat.

"I was, uh, wondering how to get to the Hogwarts Express," I said rapidly, somewhat nervous.

Tom pulled a chair out and sat down next to me.

"Oh, there's no need to be worried. Most people go with their parents, but there are arrangements to get there from here for unusual cases, like yours. You'll just use the Floo like yesterday. Sound good?"

I nodded, relieved. That didn't seem too hard.

He patted me on the shoulder and stood up. "Good. You've been a good guest, much more mature than your age. Quite independent."

Basking in the praise, I smiled at him and stood up myself, done with breakfast. Now I had some time to waste before heading to the train.

I made my way back up to my room. There wasn't much else to do here and I didn't think I had enough time to go back to Diagon Alley. At least not enough time to do anything interesting there.

I thought I'd might as well read my textbooks, so I wasn't completely clueless the first day of school. From a cursory examination of the covers the transfiguration one seemed the most intriguing, turning one thing into another. I could almost do that with my ice magic. Which lead my thoughts back to brooding about the lack of an elemental magic textbook. Something seemed strange, unless they'd been lying when they'd said they taught it, which would really piss me off.

Oh well, I'd figure that out today or tomorrow. For now it was transfiguration time.

The basic theory behind transfiguration was completely mental. You had to be good at visualization and focus to succeed in the subject, since a single moment of relaxation or stray thought could completely mess up whatever you were transfiguring. Unlike charms, which relied more on precision and memorization of spells, in transfiguration you actually had to think. You could know and have practiced the wand movements and vocalization until you could do them perfectly, but without the right focus and concentration nothing would happen. On second thought, I didn't think I'd be that good at transfiguration. I could do things well, but focus wasn't my forte. Though the discipline of transfiguration often required wand movements and audible recitations, spells, the most important aspect was the duality of Form and Essence. Essence was described as an object or being's inherent qualities and natural state. Transfiguration changed the function and appearance of the object, the Form, but left the Essence untouched. I imagined an Essence as some list of traits, invisible and immutable, while the Form was the other list that could be accessed. This duality ensured that objects could always be changed back into their original form, and the most basic transfigurations did in fact change back on their own.

What the textbook failed to explain was any of the _why_ behind this duality. I didn't understand how inanimate, unintelligent objects could have some sort of memory of their original form. The textbook said objects would transfigure back even if the caster of the reversal spell didn't know the original Form. That made no sense to me.

But I had to take it at face value, for now. Textbooks generally told the truth after all. Theories didn't just come from nowhere.

I continued reading. The theoretical aspect was dry at times but seemed important to actual transfiguration. Just as I was getting to the first spells, small things like a matchstick to a needle, I glanced up at the clock. Ten-twenty.

Probably time to go. My trunks would be a pain to lug down the stairs. I thought Tom or someone else had magic'ed them up here last time, so I went to find him.

Tom stood behind his desk reading a newspaper. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at this point when the pictures on the front moved, but I still flinched as a politician in the picture waved to me.

A light laugh let me know that he'd noticed me but wasn't making fun of me.

"Ah yes, time to leave, right?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes. Do you think you could bring my trunks down?"

"Of course," he said. He moved out from behind the counter and waved his wand while muttering under his breath. I tried to focus on the particular pattern his wand made but I didn't catch nearly enough to attempt to replicate it.

My trunks appeared in front of me with a 'pop'. I felt through my pocket to make sure I had my train ticket, then turned back to Tom. He led the way to the fireplace.

At this point I got the jitters. I was about to meet my new classmates. A ton of strangers and maybe their families. I had a right to be nervous. Unfortunately it wasn't the best thing for my magic, the ice. I felt frost forming on my fingertips, a tingly sensation running up and down my arms. Ice in my veins, maybe literally. The urge inside me built up. I couldn't calm down quick enough to prevent any ice from escaping, but maybe…

I scrambled, searching in the smaller of my two trunks for my wand. Thankfully I'd placed it near the top. As Tom focused on lighting the fire and sending my trunks through, I pointed my wand at the ground, thinking about a fine mist of ice crystals coming out of my wand. My hand grew cold as the cold crept down the length of my wand. I tried to keep my hand from shaking, knowing it wasn't helping my control at all.

Finally I heard a soft 'pssh' and looked down, only now realizing I'd had my eyes closed for the past few seconds. Four or five seconds elapsed with spray coming out the end of the wand. A puddle formed on the ground under me.

I breathed easier, the tension in me mostly gone. Like a pressurized valve that had finally been opened.

Tom turned around, fire finally lit, and with another mumble levitated my trunks close to the fire.

The strain showed on his face as he turned to me.

"Could you do the Floo powder please?"

I hurried to grab a handful from the can on top of the mantle and threw it in the fireplace, remembering at the last second my train ticket said something about a platform.

"Platform Nine and Three Quarters!" I called out.

The fire flared green and I jumped out of the way, letting Tom levitate the trunks into the flames. I waved bye to him then leaped in myself. _Hogwarts here I come._

My eardrums were assaulted by the noise as I tumbled out of the fireplace at Platform 9 and ¾. People chattered to their family members while their animals squeaked and squealed. Everyone moved so purposefully, yet the situation was still chaotic. I pulled my trunks to the side of the fireplace so that if anyone else came out they wouldn't knock into them.

The train – finally, that's what it is – gleamed red, split into rectangular blocks. Windows on the sides. It appeared we'd be in those for the duration of the journey. Not so much different from a huge carriage, except I had no idea how it moved.

I briefly considered dragging my trunks to the train but dismissed the idea as ludicrous. They didn't have any wheels or anything. How was I supposed to get them there?

A weird contortion of metal sat a few feet away from me, wheels on the bottom of it. I looked around nervously, hoping no one spotted me appropriating it for my personal use.

As I walked towards it a nudge in my side startled me. I whirled in that direction. A boy with red hair and an immense amount of freckles stood there, smiling playfully at me.

"It's okay, the trolley doesn't bite. You can take it. That's what they're for. I'm Ron Weasley by the way."

"Elsa," I said, curtseying.

He raised his eyebrows. "What'd you do that for?"

Well this kid definitely wasn't well-bred like Draco.

"To be _polite_," I responded, turning away from him and reaching for the trolley.

A hand laid on my shoulder caused me to stop once again.

"Look," I said firmly, "did you just want to introduce yourself and start a conversation? I'm fine with that but I'd rather do it on the train after I've loaded my luggage. By the way, do you know where I'm supposed to put my trunks?"

Ron quickly retracted his arm. "I was just trying to be nice. But I can show you where to go. Follow me."

I struggled, heaving my trunks onto the trolley with difficulty. Ron didn't offer to help. He stood watching me, arms folded over his chest. Probably a bit peeved at me for being snappy with him. Thankfully I didn't need to make friends with everyone I met.

Ron led the way to the front of the train, the carriage right behind the giant red thing belching steam in front. Maybe it was like a heat vent of some kind. Though it looked to be elevated off the ground. Huh. Magic was as good an explanation as any.

"Right here," Ron explained. "If you want your robes and books or anything you can take a trunk on the train but you can leave them both here too if you want. Well actually you need your robes so I'd at least take them out."

I planned to be talking with Draco, Harry, and anyone else I met as well as trying out the transfiguration I'd read about in the book. No reading or anything else. I didn't need my trunks.

I opened the smaller one up and removed one of my many school robes. After shutting my trunk, I held my robe under my arm and gestured for Ron to grab the other side of my trunk. We heaved and loaded it into the compartment then did the same with the other trunk. I stepped back, pleased with our work.

Ron was beaming at me, inordinately pleased with what we'd just accomplished. I mentally rolled my eyes. Seemed like a certain red head was either a bit thick or had a crush on me. Hopefully he'd get over it soon because I definitely didn't like him back. He seemed okay as a friend, except for maybe being a little stupid, but I didn't think I could stand to be around him too much. Harry and Draco on the other hand… well it would be stupid to decide my feelings now. I barely knew them.

"I'm going to find a seat now," I said, walking away from Ron.

He hurried after me. "I'll come with you."

I sighed and picked up my pace.

Draco seemed like he'd be the type to arrive early to get his choice of seats so I assumed he was already on the train. I clambered onto the train at the first entrance, determined to search the train from front to back for Draco.

An aisle ran down the center of the carriages. Sliding doors on the right and left led into cabins. Thankfully I didn't have to open each and every cabin door as windows featured prominently on the interior walls of the cabins. Probably for this exact purpose.

People occupied few of the cabins as I passed them, examining each one for Draco or Harry. Mostly people dressed in normal clothes though a few had robes on. The school robes people wore all had a badge on the chest, one of four different variations it seemed. My mind flashed back to my Hogwarts letter and I idly wondered what the different sigils signified.

I was almost to the point of despairing of ever finding Draco when I peeked into the second to last cabin on the train. My heart leapt as I saw him sitting in between two very large boys. I opened the cabin door with a flourish, catching Ron still lurking behind me out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey Draco!" I said cheerily.

As Draco stood up the two other boys looked at him, puzzled.

"Uh, boss, who is this?" the one on the right asked.

"This is Elsa, and you shall be nice to her," Draco said sternly. He turned to me. "And hey Elsa."

I moved into the cabin and laid my robes down on the seat.

"So who are your two bodyguards?"

Draco looked at them appraisingly. "I've hung out with them since I was little. My dad's, uh, a business associate of their fathers. Most loyal 'friends' I've ever had." He chuckled a little, as if he'd made a joke.

The boys a little annoying, just hulking there, but there'd been guards back at the palace too and all you could do was ignore them. Presumably they were people with feelings and emotions. Not that you could tell by the blank expressions on their faces.

"Huh, okay," I said. "Could I bring a guest in? He's been following me since he helped me with my bags."

Draco nodded warily. I turned towards the door. It opened and Ron entered, clearly nervous. He must have been eavesdropping.

Ron's and Draco's faces formed into almost identical scowls the instant they saw each other. Ron flushed red and clenched his fists, anger bubbling to the surface, while Draco gritted his teeth, a much more reserved expression of emotion.

I stepped back almost unconsciously, not wanting to be caught between them. Why did they hate each other though? They shouldn't even know one another. Their emotion shocked me, which is probably what kept me from intervening.

Draco spoke first, his voice more composed than his appearance. "Red hair, unkempt appearance, freckles? Must be a Weasley."

"Blond hair and a wand stuck up his arse?" Ron retorted. "Must be a Malfoy."

"Your family of breeders is the reason the Wizarding world is the way it is. A family of lazy dreamers with no true drive."

Ron took a step forward, glowering. "I would think you'd want us _Purebloods_ to have as many kids as possible, you blood-prejudiced git."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "And just like that, the peasant shows he knows nothing about the current political landscape. Typical."

"At least I know my mom's not a whore. Though you do keep a close eye on your mom whenever she's naked."

"Oh, that does it." Draco raised his voice, preliminary insults clearly over. "Crabbe, Goyle, get him."

The two bulky boys stood up menacingly, cracking their knuckles. I was frozen in my corner of the cabin. Normally my ice magic would be flaring up at a moment like this but I guessed the exertion this morning had worn it out. I had no way to intervene besides talking. And I had no idea what to say anyway.

Thankfully for all of us, Harry Potter had impeccable timing.

As Crabbe and Goyle advanced on Ron, who now appeared somewhat scared, the door of the cabin slid open slowly. I noticed it but everyone else was too focused on the impending fight. Harry appeared, taking in the scene. He frowned.

"Guys?" he asked, still standing in the entryway. "What's going on?"

Everyone froze, including Crabbe and Goyle. Draco had the good grace to look embarrassed and made a subtle hand signal to his two henchmen. They stepped back moved to flank him once again.

Ron on the other hand spun around, his facial expression transforming from one of fear to one of excitement.

"You're Harry Potter, right? I can tell by the lightning bolt scar. Wow. This is… wow."

Harry looked disconcerted at Ron's reaction. Still not used to the public eye it seemed.

Draco turned his most haughty gaze on Ron. "Harry doesn't want to be accosted by the likes of you. Could you please leave? We don't associate with plebeians."

"I don't need you to defend me," Harry said, the lack of volume in his voice belying his seriousness. "I can speak for myself."

Draco nodded in acceptance but stuck out his tongue at Harry when his back was turned. I stifled laughter. Guess the aristocrat couldn't keep his composure all the time.

"You don't need to leave," Harry said to Ron. "You can stay. Now everyone calm down."

We all sat down. Ron, Harry, and I were on one side with Draco and his two stooges on the other.

Draco crossed his arms, unable to keep from looking like a scorned lover. Ron alternated between glaring at Draco and looking admiringly at Harry. Harry fidgeted with the edge of his shirt, seemingly still bothered by the tension in the room.

I didn't like Draco's anger. Or Ron's for that matter, but Draco was my friend. I didn't like that feeling of helplessness as Crabbe and Goyle approached Ron. He'd looked like he was about to piss his pants. I don't know why I didn't do anything. I shouldn't need Harry to stand up and stop the fight about to break out when all it took was a few words. I could do it on my own, and I would. Next time.

My heart still beat somewhat faster than normal but I felt calm enough to speak again. The room needed a distraction. I realized I had no idea why Harry Potter was special.

I cleared my throat. "Can I ask a question?"

Harry and Ron nodded their assent while Draco at least didn't object. He still hadn't looked up since Harry had rebuked him.

"Why is Harry famous?"

Though Harry didn't seem to normally like attention, he smiled at me in thanks for starting up a conversation, for reducing the underlying animosity.

Ron gave me the run-down on You-Know-Who and his followers, Harry's parents, and the killing curse lightning bolt scar night. Draco chimed in occasionally. I noticed his comments had a slightly more sympathetic to You-Know-Who bent, which probably came from his family's political leanings. Unless Draco was actually a psychopath who liked murdering people and admired You-Know-Who for his violent tendencies, but that seemed unlikely.

I didn't even notice the train start moving, but when Ron reached an appropriate stopping point I glanced out the window and saw the ground whizzing past. The ride was smooth, unlike a horse-drawn carriage on a cobbled or dirt road. Strange. Well until proven otherwise I'd assume the train moved because of magic.

The cabin door opened again as Ron finished describing the aftermath of You-Know-Who's downfall.

A bushy haired girl and a meek looking boy stood in the doorway.

"Excuse me? Have you seen a toad?" the bushy haired girl asked.

When none of us responded she continued, "Only, Neville's lost one and we need to find it. I'm Hermione Granger by the way, and my parents are dentists. I'm the first one with magic in my family that I know of, so I'm so excited to be going to Hogwarts. Anyway, have you seen the toad?"

I looked to the other people in the room. None of them spoke up about a toad.

Instead, Draco said, "I just thought of something."

"Yes?" Hermione planted her hands on her hips impatiently.

Draco smirked. "If I had a toad I'd make sure to lose it as soon as I could."

While the boy I presumed to be Neville seemed to be on the verge of tears, Crabbe and Goyle broke out in loud guffaws at Draco's joke. Ron seemed torn between laughing and not wanting to join Draco in anything.

The jab at toads was funny but mean. I suppressed my laughter by looking at Neville and seeing how sad he was. Draco could be a jerk sometimes.

"Now really," Hermione scolded Draco, "this is Neville's pet. I understand if you don't want to help but this is cruel and unnecessary. Really. I have half a mind to report you to the prefects right now."

Draco's lips turned down, the mirth of moments ago gone. "What would a Mudblood like you know? Neville deserves a real pet, one befitting the scion and heir of the House of Longbottom. Something worthy of the name." He looked towards Neville. "Isn't that right?"

Neville wilted under the scrutiny, sniffling a few times. I felt bad for him.

"Draco, stop," I said quietly.

He looked at me disdainfully before softening his expression. I think Harry's glare from next to me may have helped bring about his change of heart.

Draco took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, "I formally apologize for the insult, Miss Granger. My taunts were unnecessary and my language uncouth and completely unbecoming of a member of respectable society." He looked towards us as if to say, 'Good enough?'

I gestured for him to continue and Harry nodded firmly beside me.

Draco rolled his eyes and grimaced. "And I'll help find Neville's toad, though I'd rather just buy him a more suitable pet."

Hermione pursed her lips, thinking. "I accept your apology, but I really think you should get over your prejudice before classes start. It wouldn't do your sense of self-worth much good to be bested by a _Mudblood_, would it? And I decline your offer of help, we are fine on our own thank you very much. Good day to you all."

And with that, she stepped back and shut the cabin door, presumably off to continue the search for the toad with Neville.

After a few seconds of silence during which we all stared at the door Draco turned his most furious glare on Harry and I.

"Why the hell did you make me apologize to her? That was absolutely humiliating. Just imagine if she tells all of Slytherin about that. I'll never live it down. I have half a mind to kick you out of this cabin now."

"First of all," I started, trying not to sound too angry, "everything Hermione said was right." Draco made as if to interrupt but I held up a hand. "Yes, even the part where she said she'd beat you in every class and you'd feel bad about yourself. She seemed pretty smart, if a bit of a know-it-all.

"Secondly, and more importantly, you called her a Mudblood. I'm just guessing, but I don't think that's an okay thing to say. And by saying it to her, since I'm Muggleborn as well, it's like you said it to me. So if anything I should be the one threatening to leave."

I took a deep breath, glad to have gotten that out. Draco seemed like he'd be a good friend and we had a lot in common so I didn't really want to leave, but he couldn't just act like that.

Draco thankfully calmed himself before speaking. He glanced towards Harry, then began. "Hermione wasn't right. Muggleborns, including you, have the disadvantage of having to adapt to a new society. So she and you don't know about our customs or anything, including suitable pets. Really. That's all I was referring to. I'm not bigoted against Muggleborns or anything. I just recognize that they have to learn basics about magic and Wizarding that everyone else has learned years ago. And Hermione was being a bloody stuck-up nerd. Acting like she's all superior."

I thought Draco seemed like he was being honest, but I looked to Harry for affirmation that we could collectively accept Draco's explanation. While I wanted to be friends with Draco I could see that Harry was the one he was trying to impress, so to speak. The one that dictated Draco's behavior.

"Okay." Harry sighed. "Let's just forget it ever happened. You don't like Hermione. And we're still friends."

Draco grinned as if he'd just won an argument and nodded in acceptance. We all sat back down, I personally glad the drama was over. First Ron and Draco almost coming to blows then Draco and Hermione mutually antagonizing each other. Which reminded me that Ron was still in the room.

Ron seemed to be a funny guy. Not funny in the hilarious sense, but funny as in strange. He clearly idolized Harry Potter, given the glances he kept throwing at him and how much he knew about him. He came from a family with a lot of kids, judging by Draco's comments. His family didn't like the Malfoys. But Ron himself didn't have that much of a personality that I could tell.

All four of us, or six if you count Crabbe and Goyle, sat there immersed in our own thoughts. Not that I thought Crabbe and Goyle could really think. I became bored after a few minutes of thinking about my new friends, given that I didn't actually know much about them. Or even whether they'd be friends in the long run. I decided to rectify that, the lack of knowledge about them.

"Let's play a game," I said.

"What game?" Ron asked, curious.

"We each get to ask one question to another person, who then asks a question of another person, on and on until we get bored," I explained.

"So it's to find out information about other people?" Draco asked. "I like it."

"Well I was going to say to get to know each other better, but basically, yeah."

"Are you going to play?" Draco asked Harry.

"I'd rather just watch you guys," Harry said.

"Come on, it'll be fun," I urged him.

He saw all of us smiling, acting various degrees of welcoming, and sighed. "Okay, I guess I'll play."

"So what House do you want to be in?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry furrowed his brows. "What are Houses?"

Ron sat up straighter, prepping himself for a long-winded explanation. Before he began, he asked me, "Is it okay if I explain? That doesn't ruin the game or anything right?"

"No," I replied, "It's fine. Go ahead."

"So," Ron said, "there are four Houses in Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each of them has something different about them. When we get to Hogwarts we'll be Sorted into one somehow." He paused, frowning. "My brothers wouldn't tell me exactly how but it doesn't matter that much. So Gryffindor's the House my whole family's been in. I want to be there too. They're brave, the heroes. Courageous and valiant too. Then there's Hufflepuff. They say they're the hard workers but really they're the people without enough personality to go anywhere else. You really don't want to be there. Then Ravenclaw's the nerds and Slytherin is the evil people."

"No they're not!" Draco exclaimed, throwing his arms up. He straightened out his robes, recovering his composure, then elaborated. "Though many of Voldemort's followers were in Slytherin, that doesn't mean all Slytherins are evil. They're just the rivals of Gryffindor, and Weasley's bias for Gryffindor is as obvious as the fact that the Chudley Cannons will finish at the bottom of the Quidditch league this season."

Ron seemed put out by Draco's comments, though his frown only appeared when Draco had mentioned the Chudley Cannons, whatever they were.

Draco continued, "Slytherin is actually the home of those with ambition, with sophistication, though those in it have been known to do... ah, whatever they need to to get what they want. I personally am going to be in Slytherin."

"Malfoy's clearly biased too," Ron added. "Just saying."

Draco rolled his eyes at Ron but didn't respond to the comment.

We continued the question game for some time more, though Harry never did answer what House he wanted to be in. After that Ron left to go find his siblings who had his robes, while I removed myself from the cabin temporarily so Harry and Draco could change more comfortably. I also didn't have any eagerness to see them in their underwear. After they finished they vacated the room so I could change. I took off my clothes and threw on the robes and hat, glad I didn't have a mirror to look at myself. I knew I'd look ridiculous. Which didn't matter too much, since everyone else would be wearing the same thing. So the joke's on them, those ridiculous wizards.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey readers! This is my first author's note on this story, and I don't want to make a point of writing them. Every few chapters or so is enough, depending on how often I post chapters. First I'd like to thank everyone who has read this far. Thank you all! Reviews, follows, and favorites are definitely appreciated. This is the longest chapter so far, though still not of too considerable a length. I simply want to update often as the story starts out and plot gets going, so I cut off the chapter here instead of including her first impressions of Hogwarts, the Sorting, and the introduction to her House. By the way, any guesses on what Elsa's House is going to be? Leave your ideas in reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

Day 21:

Hogwarts, the castle, stood in front of us. Not directly in front of us, but across a lake. A lake over which we'd have to travel in boats. Tiny, flimsy boats that looked like they could capsize at any moment.

I'd grown up surrounded by the ocean. Well a fjord, but close enough; still a large body of rough water. Before my practical captivity in the castle I'd gone on ships occasionally. I liked being on boats: large, sturdy boats, captained and manned by people who knew exactly what they were doing.

I was not comfortable with a tiny dingy going across a windswept lake at night.

"Draco, are you sure this is safe?" I asked my blond friend, hoping he'd say no and we'd get to go in the carriages like the non-first years.

He removed his penetrating gaze from the lake and glanced at me. "I'm sure it's fine. Even if it is that oaf Hagrid, the school wouldn't place us in unnecessary danger."

"Hey, don't call Hagrid an oaf," Harry interjected, joining the conversation. "He showed me around Diagon Alley. But I don't like these boats."

Hermione sidled up alongside us as we stood along the shore, some of the last first years to board boats. We'd claimed one, so to speak, standing in front of it, but none of us had made any move to enter.

"I think this could potentially be a test of our intellect and courage," Hermione pondered aloud. "Not to mention any latent magical ability, as well as our trust in one another."

"And how do you figure that?" Draco asked skeptically.

Hermione sighed, as if it was obvious. "_Clearly_,the boats are unstable. We all have to work together to make sure they don't tip over. If we don't trust each other not to make sudden moves or otherwise capsize the boat then someone will end up panicking and dump us all in the water. Then just getting on the boats, as well as maintaining composure while aboard takes courage. And if the boat starts to rock accidental magic may steady it subconsciously. And to figure all this out and execute it all takes intellect. Obviously."

"Granger," Draco started, seething, "I have half a mind to get on a boat with you just so I can push you in." He paused, quirking his brow. "But, on the off chance you're right and we're being judged for this, we four are on a boat together and we're going to remain calm and make it across the lake dry and composed. Everyone agreed?"

Harry nodded, looking bemused at Draco's comments. Hermione waited a few seconds, thinking before accepting even though it was her idea in the first place. Probably the thought of Draco pushing her in made her hesitate. Then they stared at me.

"What?" I asked defensively.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Are you coming with us?"

I let out a groan of frustration. "I think this whole idea that they're judging us on a simple boat ride is stupid, no offense Hermione." The smart girl nodded primly back at me, accepting my opinion without being offended and presumably disregarding it just as quickly. "I've been on boats before," I continued. "Big boats, that actually have people driving them and don't just move because of magic. I don't think this is safe or smart, but I'm not staying here alone. So yes, I guess I'm coming."

Draco rolled his eyes once again but led the way to the boat. Hermione clambered on first, taking the bow. She didn't quite seem comfortable being on the boat but this was her idea after all. Harry and Draco sat down in the middle, each on one side of the boat. I held the stern, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. I wasn't particularly afraid of drowning, it was just that I had no reason to trust the boats or the magic or anything, really.

The boat rocked sideways as I placed my right foot on it. I gave a little shove off with my left, then pulled myself fully into the boat and swiftly sat down. The hard wood bottom wasn't damp but still had no cushion. Our boat drifted forward for a few feet, almost going sideways before the magical current caught it and it straightened out, just like I'd seen happen to the other boats. So far so good.

We moved forward with some pace, steadily rocking over small waves. The wind whipped my hair around my head. I wished I'd tied it back or braided it, but I hadn't thought of it this morning. I could see Hermione shivering as she peered over the bow, down into the icy depths. Harry and Draco wrapped their cloaks tighter around themselves and hunched over. As for me, well the cold never bothered me. Probably a latent side effect of my ice powers.

The wind picked up as we moved along. Hagrid's boat was a bit ahead of us, the lantern attached to it the sole nearby source of light. Waves rocked our boat. If they'd been coming straight on or from the back it wouldn't be so bad, but as it was every time one hit the boat tipped somewhat and threw us around.

No one seemed up for taking action or telling others what to do; they simply sat there trying to block out the cold.

I decided to take charge, since though I'd never been on a boat this small I'd at least seen them in action. With the number of people we had we couldn't all just cluster in the middle. Hermione and I were fine on the back and front but Draco and Harry got knocked to one side every time a wave hit. Their movement exacerbated the rocking of the boat, making it all the more likely that we'd get dumped into the water.

I sat up straighter, braving the wind. "Draco, Harry! You need to counterbalance the movement of the boat. Try leaning into the waves instead of letting them move you. It'll work better that way."

Draco and Harry both grimaced to varying degrees, but removed their arms from their cloaks and braced themselves on the side and bottom of the boat.

Hermione looked at me strangely, but nodded, accepting my expertise in this particular area.

The new strategy seemed to work a lot better in the minutes that followed. The people in the boats around us got more wet than we did, and every so often I heard high-pitched shrieks when people got surprised by a wave washing over the side. At the beginning the black surface of the lake seemed to stretch indeterminably onwards, but now we could see the boat docks ahead of us, if Hagrid had been correct in his explanation.

Our boating near-disaster was completely and unequivocally not our fault.

Every few minutes, a boat capsized. The boat automatically righted itself and people pulled their sopping wet selves back into the craft. If the people couldn't swim or seemed to be flailing giant tentacles reached out of the lake and deposited them back into their craft.

The first time I realized I was seeing giant tentacles come out of the water I screamed. Harry calmed me down, while Hermione explained that a friendly giant squid lived in the lake. I wasn't convinced it wasn't going to try to eat us but I also knew panicking on a boat would more than likely dump me into the water, with the giant s1uid. So I kept still while Harry and Draco kept the boat balanced.

When we were almost at the docks a boat to our right capsized. I expected a routine rescue of them by the giant squid. What I got instead was an ominous thump on the bottom of our boat. My eyes jumped to the floor of the boat, pulse pounding. My fingers gripped the sides of the boat so tightly I could almost see my knuckles glowing white. My arms got tingly, like they do before my powers show themselves. I held my breath to try to regain some control of myself. I waited, full of tension, for something to happen.

The second thump was much more powerful than the first, and the boat actually launched a few feet in the air. Hermione screamed, I yelled, while Draco and Harry both made the mistake of getting into a crouch. It might have made them feel safer but it also made the boat much more unbalanced.

When the boat hit the water it tipped almost immediately to the right. I tried leaning the other way, but it was no use. The boat was going over. I braced myself for the icy water, the last thing I saw Harry windmilling his arms, trying and failing to stay onboard an almost vertical boat.

Another jolt came, and I was tossed unceremoniously back into the bottom of the boat, safely aboard. The boat also wasn't on its side anymore and instead was flat, rocking gently.

I cracked open my eyes, barely daring to breathe. Draco and Harry lay sprawled, one on top of another while Hermione was on her knees in the front. The boys quickly disentangled themselves from their awkward position rapidly. Then I noticed the boat wasn't moving forward anymore.

I looked over the edge, peering downward to see what kept us stationary. I could barely make out what looked to be white poles under the water, against which our boat barely nudged as it rocked. I counted three on one side and assumed there was the same number on the other. Presumably there was also at least one in the front and back to halt our motion in those directions.

By this time the other three people aboard had regained enough of their composure to look over the sides of the boat as well.

Harry screwed up his face, puzzled. "What are they?"

I reached my hand in the water to feel one. A smooth, almost oily surface. Cold, though not so much so compared to the water.

Inspiration struck me like a ton of bricks.

"They're ice!" I exclaimed.

Hermione retracted her own hand from the water and wiped it on her robes distastefully. "And how did the ice get there?"

My excitement from a moment ago vanished instantly. I noticed my arms were exhausted, my whole body drained. The ice had come from me. My power.

I waffled, torn between telling them and keeping my secret. It had been such a big part of me for so long, something I couldn't even share with my own sister, at least after the trolls had memory charmed her. Hermione's scrutinizing gaze burned into me, and I turned away. Draco's face was a calm mask of indifference, but he could probably read my expressions better than Hermione could.

If I told them then they'd know. But they'd know anyway if elemental magic was an actual class. Maybe the lack of book and place on my class list was because it was supposed to be a secret, but since they didn't tell us explicitly we had plausible deniability if we told anyone. They couldn't reasonably expect us to infer that our powers were supposed to be a secret.

On the other hand, the ice magic was something that was solely mine; I didn't share it with anyone else. It made me special. I recoiled against the idea of telling them, the idea of sharing my secret. It was supposed to be a secret for a reason, at least back at home, and there wasn't any harm in lying to them. I could always tell them the truth later and I doubted they'd be too mad. Selfish, I know, but I didn't want to be the outlier just yet. I liked being normal for the time being.

"How would I know how it got there?" I replied to Hermione, exasperated. "It was probably one of our accidental magics not wanting us to get dumped into the freezing-as-hell water."

Hermione looked at me suspiciously. "Are you sure you don't know more about it?"

"Yes," I insisted. "This isn't some great mystery or anything. I don't think there's anything weird going on. Just normal accidental magic. They'll probably go away in a little and we'll start moving again."

"Okay, I guess." Hermione still sounded somewhat incredulous, but was at least willing to let it rest for now.

"So now we just wait?" Harry asked.

Draco and I both nodded. I was glad someone agreed with me since my understanding of this magic system and thus accidental magic was limited to the small bit of the transfiguration book I'd read and my conversations in Dragon Alley and on the train. Almost all of what I'd said had been speculation, guesswork.

We all settled into more comfortable positions to wait for the ice to go away, except I knew it wouldn't go away on its own. My magical constructions melted, yes, but I'd never gotten them to go away consciously before. Though I'd never tried that hard before…

I let my hand trail in the water, checking if anyone was looking at me. No one was; they were all focused on the water and ice underneath. I shut my eyes and concentrated. I thought of the poles of ice I'd seen and felt. Concentrating on their feeling, I imagined a linkage between them. With that firmly visualized I formed my hand into a circle, as if I was holding the pole. I pictured the resistance as my fingers buried a small way into the ice, enough to get a grip. The difficult part came next.

I called to mind almost every instance of using my magic I could think of. The powerful surge of energy that emanated from my chest and burst out my fingertips. How free that felt. I kept that feeling in mind, clenching my stomach and chest, imagining the boat capsizing again to try to get some adrenaline flowing. Then I imagined the ice poles moving down all together as I moved my hand down, as if I was grasping the poles and pulling them.

There was a groan, and it worked. I felt the boat lurch forward and opened my eyes. Success! I couldn't suppress a huge grin tugging at the corner of my lips.

Harry looked up. "Are we moving again?"

Hermione trailed a hand in the water, quirking her brows. "Yes, it appears we are. I guess the magic wore off." She gave me a scrutinizing glare as she said this last part.

Draco and Harry also looked at me as if there was something suspect about the whole situation, but they had no proof. So it didn't really matter right now. I smiled cheekily at them.

Our boat quickly caught back up to the others once we were underway again. The lights of the castle glinted off the water ahead of us. The roughness decreased as we neared the docks, until the boats were barely pushed up against them by the gentle waves.

"Everyone off!" Hagrid called, stepping out of his boat as a normal size person would step out of a bathtub.

We made it off our boat with a little more struggle. Harry gave me a helping hand. At least the school robes permitted a lot of leg mobility, unlike a tight dress or skirt, so I could stretch to step off as necessary.

Hagrid led the way up the lawn towards the castle. I heard a few gasps of surprise once we were finally in a position to take in its full enormity. Even though I'd grown up in a castle and thus wasn't dazzled by the size, to see all the lights illuminated, all the space inhabited was amazing. And soon that'd all be mine to explore. Full of people to meet and magic to do.

In a sense, the castle seemed more personable as we approached the front doors, given that all the extensive towers and parapets were hidden. On the other hand, the doors were huge, at least double the size of Hagrid. I didn't want to imagine the size of the person or animal that would need the full heights of the doors to fit inside, though the height might just have been for show as well.

Hagrid opened the doors with a grunt. They creaked open, revealing my first glimpse of the interior of Hogwarts. A long hall awaited us. The inside of the castle looked to be constructed mostly of tan stone, which seemed at first glance to hold the illumination of torches better than the gray stone we had at home.

Students huddled together and hurried inside to get out of the wind. Once the doors were shut everyone had a somewhat frazzled look about them, maybe half of us still sopping wet from the trip in the boats. Whoever had decided first years should go on boats was an idiot.

I looked towards Hagrid, wondering what we were supposed to do now. He had moved back to the front of our herd of people after shutting the doors. Harry, Draco, Hermione and I stood near the front of the group, Hermione slightly apart from the other three of us.

After a minute of waiting a witch appeared from the left. She was elderly, with a stern face and a firm grip on a wand in her right hand.

She nodded to Hagrid, who scurried off after being acknowledged.

"Hello," she began, "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. I trust that your journey across the lake wasn't too troublesome, and you will find that your robes quickly dry in the heat of the Great Hall. Rest assured, you won't have to be sorted while you are still wet."

She then proceeded to give a summary of the traits of the Houses. It followed the basic outline of what Ron and Draco had said on the train.

Murmurs went through the students as she spoke. I caught scraps of conversations and it seemed people were discussing what House they'd like to be in. I was glad I'd learned of the Houses earlier so I had little knowledge on the topic.

When she finished Professor McGonagall led us down a small hallway to large double doors. She made a motion with her arms and the doors opened. I was impressed first by her use of magic without a wand. That impression was quickly dwarfed by the Great Hall itself.

Four long tables lay parallel, all filled with students. Each table sat students with a different color on their robes, seeming to correlate to the colors of the Houses. Slytherin sat on far left, with Ravenclaw next to them, Hufflepuff after that, and Gryffindor to the far right. There were more people in the room than I'd seen in years, probably in my lifetime. At the far side of the room sat a smaller table, this one raised on a raised platform perpendicular to the others. A few days ago I would have thought the people seated up there were the height of eclecticism but now I knew better. Wizards and witches were just a strange bunch in general. At the center of the head table was a man in purple robes with a snow-white beard and hair that fell out of sight behind the table. He had a magnificent twinkle in his eyes and a generally cheerful disposition, but there was something mysterious about him as well.

The ceiling, though, was the most amazing part of the room. For an instant upon walking into the room I thought we'd walked outside again, such was its realism. The stars were partially obscured by clouds but that didn't dampen the atmosphere at all. Hundreds of candles hung intermittently below the ceiling, but still much above the tables, though the room seemed to also give off some sort of ambient glow. Those candles couldn't possibly light the room by themselves.

As students were taking their time removing their eyes from the ceiling, I moved to stand closer to Harry. He was a little bit away from Hermione and Draco; he'd stopped to take in the room like I had while the other two, probably having known about it already, were less awestruck.

I leaned towards Harry. "Pretty amazing, isn't it?"

He tore his eyes away from the ceiling reluctantly. "Yeah, it is. I had no idea magic could do this. A few days ago I didn't even know magic existed."

I raised my eyebrows. "Wow, you mean your aunt and uncle didn't tell you anything about it? That's pretty mean."

He grimaced. "Yeah, they were definitely mean."

We stood silent for a few seconds before Harry spoke again. "I'm glad I met you guys in Diagon Alley though. This is all overwhelming. It's nice to have people to be with."

I smiled at him, having felt the same way numerous times already. "Yes, it definitely is. Though Draco's a jerk sometimes and Hermione is more an ally than a friend so far."

He returned my smile. "Well at least we two are normal. We can keep the group together. By the way, I was so nervous when Draco and Ron almost got into a fight. I still don't really get what that was about."

I shuddered just thinking about it. "Me neither, but it's something political so it's not going away any time soon. Then when Draco got mad at Hermione, I almost jumped out the window instead of intervening."

Harry laughed and I joined in.

"Well it looks like we have our work cut out for us, mellowing out our blond friend," I said, still giggling a bit.

Harry nodded with fake solemnness. "Indeed we do."

"I think he's good though, deep down," I said, more seriously. "He paid for all my school supplies after all. He could be worse."

Harry raised his eyebrows but shrugged. "I guess so."

Just then Professor McGonagall called us to order and asked us to spread ourselves out more evenly. I don't know what she expected to happen but people randomly took steps to their left or right, moving with their groups of friends, so we ended up looking just as bad as before. Professor McGonagall pursed her lips.

The professor walked to the front of the room and spoke again. "First years, you will soon be sorted into your Houses. I have already explained the traits and virtues of the four Houses. But first, the Sorting Hat will sing its annual song."

McGonagall placed a battered old hat that seemed to come out of nowhere on a stool that also magically appeared.

A fold above the brim of the hat moved in a strange pantomime of mouth movement and noise emanated from it, so if you didn't treat definitions too strictly the hat was talking. Given the quality of the 'singing' voice, the hat was definitely not singing. It was more like a chant than anything. The Sorting Hat's 'song' was yet another recitation of the House stereotypes. _Boring_.

After the song McGonagall began calling names.

'Abbott, Hannah,' was first. McGonagall directed her up to the front of the room where the shy, blond, somewhat mousy looking student sat on the stool and placed the hat on her head. The hat's mouth moved and I strained to hear what it was saying but I couldn't pick up even a trace of the words.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted after a number of seconds.

The Hufflepuff table broke into raucous cheers and Hannah Abbott joined then, a big smile on her face.

There was a certain rhythm to the Sorting, though it definitely wasn't an event designed for spectators. The main action took place with the hat on the person's head, and I had no idea what was happening then. The hat would proceed to call out a House name and the student went over there as the table cheered.

Before I knew it, it was my turn. Harry patted my shoulder, wishing me luck, and I moved out of the mass of first years.

Butterflies filled my stomach and I thanked the stars above that I'd used such a large amount of magic on the boat. Otherwise I'd be prone to an outburst at a moment like this. Luckily the crowd didn't stare or whisper about me any more than they had any other student. I climbed the stairs with trepidation, then used my sweaty, shaking hands to pick up the worn out hat. The fabric felt old, ancient.

As I faced the students I tried to smile at my friends but I'm sure it came out more as a sickly grimace. I shut my eyes and placed the hat on my head.

_"Well well, a princess, eh?" a male voice boomed in my head. "How nice to meet you, your royal highness."_

Sarcasm? It would be pretty embarrassing if being a princess was the defining aspect of my personality. Not that anyone would know, but I'd have to live with the knowledge for the rest of my life.

_"Yes, as you guessed, I am being somewhat facetious. It is always nice to have a bit of fun with students while Sorting them. Now let's see, hmm…"_

My mind whirled through memories and stray thoughts of its own accord, and I guessed the hat was rooting through to see what stuck out. Looking into my past to see my ideal future..

_"Well, you have not a small bit of talent, and that ice magic, that's something special. You'd do well in Ravenclaw, for the advantages with learning it provides. Not so much Gryffindor, though you'd survive. You don't quite have the right amount of selflessness and ability to form close-knit bonds with others that would do you well in Hufflepuff. Though of course that's not your fault, being locked away in a castle and isolated from your peers."_

I thought of Draco then, how he became friends with Harry because he was famous. Forming friendships based around future political gain. I was a queen. I needed to know how to do that, and many other things besides. I could do that too.

_"Ah, I do see your point. You see things that others don't sometimes, and definitely have the ambition to be great, though it is a bit unrefined at the moment. Well you can't expect eleven year olds to have everything planned out now, can you? Cunning, that can develop over time. And I can't deny the importance of your position back at home to you. Wanting to live up to the example set by your mother. Yes, yes, I see it now."_

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted.

I opened my eyes and took the hat off my head, then smiled a true, beaming smile at Draco as I walked down the steps and to the Slytherin table. My new Housemates congratulated me, patting me on the back as I sat down next to another first years. The space on my left was empty, and I'd keep it that way until Draco arrived.

Though the other tables talked quietly during the Sorting, Slytherin sat silent except when a new member of the House was sorted. Then they erupted, cheering loudly, making themselves welcoming before returning to silence.

Hermione came not directly after me, but sooner than any other of my friends. The hat didn't wait long before announcing she was in Ravenclaw. That seemed to fit her perfectly from what I knew of her. It might also take her down a notch to be surrounded by people who liked learning as much as she did.

The hat barely touched Draco's head when it bellowed, "Slytherin!" Draco came over to our table, trying and failing to restrain his smile. The applause from the table might have been the loudest out of anyone's. Much louder than mine certainly, but I didn't begrudge him that. He squeezed my hand under the table as he took the seat I'd reserved for him.

When Professor McGonagall said, "Harry Potter," the Great Hall broke into a rash of whispers. Even the Slytherin table was not entirely immune to the speculation. Harry sat under the hat for a good five minutes, which only heightened the sense of tension in the air. Right after the hat finally called out, "Slytherin," you could hear a pin drop in the room. I saw the man in purple robes at the head table almost imperceptibly frown before shaking his head and putting back on his benign smile. The other teachers' reactions were decidedly neutral, not showing the same enthusiasm they had for every other students' Sorting.

After a second or so of silence the Slytherin table broke into defeating cheers, louder than even those for Malfoy. The starlet of the Wizarding world joining Slytherin would certainly boost their prestige and maybe reduce their reputation as evil. Almost everyone congratulated Harry with a pat on the back or something similar, but he eventually made his way down the table and sat across from Draco and me.

After flashing what I hoped was a welcoming smile at Harry I looked over my shoulder towards the first years yet to be sorted. Ron had a look of betrayal on his face. He must have thought Harry was going to get sorted into Gryffindor, which made sense in a way. Harry had defeated Voldemort, who was a Slytherin along with most of his followers. But then not all or even most of Slytherin was evil.

Ron, for his part, was sorted into Gryffindor and joined three other redheads at that table, whom I could only assume were his siblings.

Once the Sorting was complete Professor McGonagall spoke again. "Before we begin the feast, the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, would like to say a few words." She frowned disapprovingly, and I wondered if he was breaking tradition or something.

Professor Dumbledore, the man in the purple robes with the beard in the center of the teachers table, stood gracefully. "Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak." And with that the feast began.


	6. Chapter 6

Day 21:

The tables were suddenly filled with a huge variety of food. Pastries, meats, every conceivable concoction covered the table almost to the point of overflowing into our laps. The smells wafted up and I sucked in a deep breath. The rest of the first years had eyes alight with excitement at the extravagant spread laid before them and I wondered if I looked the same way.

I pulled a variety of food onto my plate, not taking much care with manners. No one was watching me anyway; everyone was focused on the food. After I'd laden my plate with as much food as it could handle I took a moment to survey the table. The eldest students seemed to be sitting near the teachers, and it got progressively younger as you went down the table, ending with us. There were only eleven first years in Slytherin, which meant there would be seventy people at the table overall.

I started eating after looking at Draco to see what he was doing. I didn't know if there was some sort of wizard before-eating ritual or anything but I didn't notice one. He just ate primly, but that was probably due to his upbringing as much as anything. Some of the other first years didn't bother so much with small bites and petite hand movements.

For my part I tried to maintain my composure but at times the food was just too good. Succulent meats dripping in sauce, hearty breads and cheese, various pies and other creations were placed on my plate and subsequently devoured.

During the first number of minutes of dinner I was too busy eating to pay attention to any conversation. When I'd eaten my fill, or at least slowed down my pace to something more manageable, I started listening to what people were saying.

At the moment a dark-skinned boy was talking to Harry.

"Hello, I'm Blaise Zabini. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Harry said shyly.

'What are you most excited for, in terms of school?' Blaise asked Harry, rotating in his seat to face him more. "I personally am most looking forward to Transfiguration. My mother is a top researcher in the field."

Harry flashed me a 'help me' glance. I couldn't intervene in this.

"Umm," Harry mumbled, looking down at his food, "I guess I think flying class will be cool. We get to fly on brooms, right?"

Blaise quirked his brows. "Yes, that's right. I'd have thought you'd know that," he added, questioning.

"Well my aunt and uncle didn't tell me anything about Hogwarts or magic, so…" Harry trailed off apologetically.

The rest of the first years instantly had their eyes on Harry. They must have all been listening in to the conversation.

"You don't know anything about magic?" asked a black haired girl with a pixie cut.

Harry looked towards her, blushing. "No, I don't. Is that a problem or something? I was surprised when I got the letter. Was I supposed to have been in wizard school before this?"

"No, I guess it's fine," the girl said uncertainly. "I'm Daphne Greengrass by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Harry replied automatically.

"We'll catch you up on everything you need to know," Blaise said, puffing out his chest. You were staying with Muggles right?"

Harry looked puzzled. "They didn't do magic, if that's what you mean."

"Well that explains it." Blaise smirked. "Muggles hate magic, as a rule. Have you heard of the witch burnings?"

Harry nodded.

"That shows you what good Muggles are. Some wizards are Muggle-lovers, like the Weasleys." Blaise jerked his head towards the Gryffindor table. "Honestly, loving Muggles makes no sense. They don't like us, so we avoid them. It makes sense to have no contact with them. And then Muggleborns naturally do worse in school. They don't have any control or power with their magic."

Harry frowned. I did too. This talk all seemed a bit racist. Well not racist, but discriminatory. Stereotyping. I was one of those people they were talking about.

Harry looked to me and almost started talking, probably going to mention something about my Muggle heritage, but I shook my head rapidly. He tilted his head to the side and I motioned towards the door. I'd explain to him when we weren't surrounded by so many people.

As the rest of the first years nodded to punctuate Blaise's speech, Draco spoke up for the first time. That I'd noticed, at least.

"Now," Draco started, adopting a conciliatory tone, "Let's not talk politics at the dinner table. There are much more interesting, not to mention relevant topics of conversation. For instance, how are we going to split up the dorm rooms?"

Excited chattering broke out through the Slytherin first years. Crabbe and Goyle claimed each other, while Daphne and another girl I later found out was named Tracy did the same. Draco, Blaise and another blond haired boy entered negotiations to determine who was going to be in Harry's dorm and who would be in Crabbe and Goyle's.

I looked to the rest of the girls, not speaking. I didn't know any of them so I had no preference in term of dorm companions.

Daphne turned towards me after scowling at the two other girls across the table. Neither of them were too pretty but I didn't want to believe Daphne was so shallow as to judge roommates based on looks. Maybe they had some history, familial or otherwise, like Ron and Draco did.

"What's your name?" Daphne asked me.

"I'm Elsa," I said, startled at her directness.

She got right to the point. "Will you be our roommate?"

"Umm." I paused, taking a moment to think. Daphne was the only one I knew anything about, and she'd just asked Harry a question. She seemed to think it weird that he had no exposure to the Wizarding world, but it probably did seem strange to the Slytherins who'd only ever known the children of wizards before. She didn't have to find out I was a Muggleborn. Not that I'd hide it, I'd just never bring it up. Which meant I'd have to read my History textbook to understand more about Wizarding culture. Well, it wasn't the worst topic to have to read about.

"Yes," I answered firmly, trying to inject confidence to make up for my pause to think.

She looked at me skeptically but nodded. "This is Tracey," she said, gesturing to the girl beside her, who wore glasses.

Tracey gave me a shy wave. I waved back.

Before Daphne could draw me into conversation I turned back towards Harry. Though Blaise and the other boy were still arguing it seemed that Blaise would get to room with Draco and Harry. I caught the other boys name in Blaise's arrogant lilt: Theo.

I hadn't realized everyone was finished eating, but the scraps left on the table disappeared as instantly as the food had appeared a few minutes ago.

An older student called for all the Slytherin first years to follow him. We did so, Theo and Blaise still squabbling a bit as we walked. I glanced towards the Ravenclaw table as we filed out of the Great Hall and saw Hermione talking animatedly with two other students. I smiled a bit; she was in a place with other smart people.

The stone on the walls became darker as we descended. The staircases got narrower and lighting dimmer. A sense of gloom pervaded the corridors. I wasn't sure I liked the location of Slytherin House. It seemed like it was in the dungeons. Why would anyone want to live there?

Torches flickered on the walls, casting ominous shadows as we clumped closer together the farther underground we got. At least I assumed we were below ground level by this point; we must have gone down at least six floors from the Great Hall. Theo and Blaise even stopped their arguing. Silence reigned, only broken by the soft patter of our feet on the stone floor.

Finally, the person leading us stopped in front of a blank stretch of wall.

He turned towards us. "This is the entrance to the Slytherin common room and dormitories. It will be your home for the next seven years. You enter the common room by standing in front of this wall and reciting a passphrase. You will all remember the exact location of the entrance by the end of the week. The password is currently 'Asphodel'. Do not forget that.

"My name is Michael Custer. I am one of the Slytherin Prefects. There are six of us, and we all wear badges that look like this." He gestured to his, pinned on the left side of his chest. "If you ever need help, find one of us or Professor Snape, the Head of House. He will be along later to introduce himself. Now without further ado, let's enter the common room, and please don't bother me the rest of the night."

Michael spoke the password and the wall transformed. Unlike the entrance to Diagon Alley, the brick didn't retract. It simply disappeared as if it was an illusion. I was half-frightened the wall would reappear the second before I went through.

In the end, I made it in safely. The common room actually looked quite a bit like my father's study back at home. A fireplace adorned one wall and a multitude of comfortable though elegant chairs and couches spread throughout the room in clusters. A large window on the far side of the room looked to be made of opaque green glass before I realized with shock that we were under the lake. The window looked out into the lake. Now that was a design decision I didn't understand. I'd much prefer to have no windows than to have one that only saw into the bottom of the lake. A hallway on the right led to numerous rooms, presumably our dorms.

The prefect who'd led us here sat down in one of the more isolated armchairs, crossing his arms. Evidently he wasn't to be disturbed.

I looked to Draco for guidance, having no idea myself about what to do. He saw my glance and cleared his throat. We all looked to him.

"Let's sit in the chairs by the fire and talk a bit, until Snape comes. Okay?"

We all murmured or nodded our assent and moved to sit on the two couches that ringed the fireplace. I ended up sandwiched between Draco and Harry. It could be a worse position, I supposed.

"I think that I've caught all of your names by now, but for anyone who hasn't, why don't we go around and introduce ourselves?" Blaise asked, taking charge from Draco.

We each took a turn talking about ourselves, though both I and Harry kept mine very brief, though not for the same reasons. Harry didn't talk much about his home life and everyone knew everything else about him, while I didn't want people to know my background. So I just stated my name and that I was excited for charms. I received a few puzzled glances at my lack of expansion on my family or background but Draco quickly picked up the conversation thread and introduced himself.

While I sighed in relief at having my turn over, Harry whispered to me, "Why aren't you telling them about yourself? You did it twice now, here and at dinner."

I thought for a moment, figuring out how to explain this without seeming like a shallow idiot.

"I don't really want them to know my parentage, or lack thereof," I whispered back. "It isn't necessary and I'd rather they knew me before judging me as a Muggleborn."

Harry frowned, leaning in closer. "But don't you think they'll find out eventually? You shouldn't have to hide who you are."

I smiled reassuringly. "It's just temporarily. Until they know me better."

Harry didn't look mollified but he at least let the subject drop.

Before my conversation with Harry I'd caught the names of the two girls who'd be in the other dorm: Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. Pansy looked like she may have been punched in the face as a child, causing her nose to become somewhat pig-like. It didn't look bad though, as long as she didn't crinkle her nostrils. When that happened I had a hard time not snorting in amusement. Millicent, for her part, was what you could call big-boned. Solidly built. Wide shoulders, hair with no depth that barely hung past her ears.

"So, what shall we discuss now?" Blaise asked once the introduction were finished.

"Oo, does anyone know any spells?" Daphne asked, leaning forward excitedly. "My parents wouldn't let me do any magic once I got my wand."

We all looked at each other, not wanting to be the first to speak up. Finally Draco stood.

"My father thought it appropriate for me to learn some small charms before I would attend Hogwarts. This is a basic light spell," he said flatly.

"_Lumos,_" Draco incanted, holding his wand out. His face screwed up in concentration though he tried to mask it.

A light flickered on the end of Draco's wand, burning brightly for a few seconds before disappearing.

I was impressed, and from the looks of it, everyone else was too. Draco sat back down, still composed, though from my prime vantage point next to him I could see the tiniest smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"That showed some skill," Blaise said graciously. "Would anyone else like to try a spell?"

I hoped against hope that someone would reveal elemental powers, just so I would feel so alone in that regard.

Instead, Millicent looked to Harry. "How about you, Harry Potter? You're a great wizard probably. How about you try Lumos?"

Harry floundered under the pressure as everyone looked at him. He shrugged and shook his head, opening and closing his mouth several times.

Finally he said, "How about Elsa goes first? She hasn't done anything yet."

Instantly everyone's attention was refocused on me. I felt betrayed. How could he do that to me? I scowled at Harry, making clear how mad I was, then turned away, trying to not show how nervous I was.

"Why don't you try Lumos?" Blaise asked, almost kindly.

Draco snorted beside me and Blaise shot him a vehement glare. I got that Blaise was maybe trying to be nice but he sounded so patronizing his words didn't matter. Draco was right to snort.

I stood up and pulled out my wand, ready to try lighting my wand, but then had a better idea. Why don't I try that transfiguration I'd read about in the morning? If I impressed them with that they wouldn't suspect I was a Muggleborn. Also, they'd be impressed, which was always good.

I searched the mantle quickly for a match and found a pack, taking one and placing it on a coffee table next to the couch. I received a veritable roomful of curious looks after doing that, but Draco's suddenly dawned in comprehension.

He motioned to everyone. "Don't crowd around the table overmuch, but it is necessary to be somewhat close to see this spell performed."

I nodded my thanks to him and pointed my wand at the match, trying to ignore the press of people all around me. I focused on the Essence of the match seeing how in its natural form was truly a match. That stayed how it was while the Form would change into that of a needle. It would be for all intents and purposes a needle, but one that would revert back to a match after some length of times. A match masquerading as a needle. I concentrated on this, thinking of the match as putting on a mask.

With my eyes closed spoke the incantation firmly and japed my wand at the match. I felt a small catch of magic, like an adrenaline rush almost. It definitely felt incomplete. I wasn't even tired and normally I was drained after doing magic.

I cracked my eyes open, seeing the light glint off the object, and my heart leapt. Had I really done it? I looked more closely and my excitement mostly disappeared. It turned out I had only changed the color or material of the match; it was still match shape. Harry patted me on the back, congratulating me. I couldn't really shrug him off, stay mad at him. I'd just turned a match partway into a needle!

"Don't get too confident now, you appear to have exactly the same meagre amount of talent as every class of first years since I started teaching at this school." A man's voice echoed from the entrance to the common room.

The man strolled calmly into the room, taking us in with an appraising eye. A heavy duty black cape swished behind him, under which he wore tight fitting black robes, also made of durable looking material.

"I am Severus Snape," he announced, "Professor and Master of Potions, and Head of Slytherin House. You may address me as either Professor or Master Snape, or 'Sir' if you are feeling deferential. Now, do you have any questions about either myself or House protocol?"

Draco was the first to speak. I caught his eyes alight with awe. This was clearly a man he worshipped.

"Uncle Severus—" he began.

"You may address me as Professor Snape," the professor interrupted in a tone that brokered no argument.

Draco pouted for a split second before smoothing his facial expression once more. "Forgive me, Professor," he said, almost sardonically. "I was simply wondering if you could give an outline of basic House conduct, before the rest of the Slytherins return. So we don't cause ourselves and thus you undue embarrassment."

"Rest assured, Mr. Malfoy, that I shall never be embarrassed on behalf of any of you," Professor Snape replied, eyes glinting with amusement. "But to answer your question you must simply be deferential to your elders and maintain proper decorum when interacting with them and when outside of the common room. Never settle intra-House fights in public. Your first loyalty is to your House. Your second to Hogwarts. Only then shall family and ties outside of school come into play. Remember that and neither I nor your Housemates shall have any significant problems with you."

No one else saw a need to speak up after that. After waiting a few seconds, Professor Snape nodded to the prefect sitting in the corner and left the common room once again, the last thing I saw a flash of dark cape as he turned the corner.

We resumed talking among ourselves for a few more minutes, though Draco seemed unusually quiet as a result of the scolding from his… uncle? They didn't look anything alike. I noticed quite a few calculating glances being thrown my way followed by a peek at the match I'd turned partway into a needle. The worst part was I couldn't tell whether people were impressed or disappointed.

The rest of the Slytherins entered the common room soon after and we quickly vacated to our dorms, not wanting to get in their way. Our trunks were already there. When I saw my belongings I felt a pang of homesickness and suddenly didn't want to interact with Daphne or Tracey anymore. I changed into nightclothes quickly in the bathroom and lay down in bed while Tracy and Daphne kept talking with the light on. I rapidly fell asleep, bolstered by thoughts of classes tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

Day 22:

Breakfast was just as festive an affair as last night's dinner. There was a little less variety but that didn't matter so much. I wasn't a morning person anyway so I moved through the motions of eating mechanically.

I took a bite of a sweet pastry, filled with cream, and was suddenly reminded of home. This was Anna's favorite breakfast food. I wouldn't see her for quite a long time. Not that I saw her much anyway. My parents were to blame for that. I don't know how my dad thought it right to isolate me. Well I was free now and hopefully Anna could make some friends now that I wasn't a danger to everyone. The castle could be open again. Throw wide the doors, Elsa's gone!

I snorted to myself. They didn't need me and I didn't need them either. I had new friends.

Speaking of, at that moment Draco and Harry joined me at the table, both of them sitting across from me. I was close enough to the far end of the table that we didn't have any other immediate neighbors.

I was almost done with my food but I thought I'd wait for them. That's what friends did for each other, I presumed.

"Good morning, you two," I said, trying to rouse some energy for conversation.

"Good morning, Elsa," Draco intoned.

Harry simply smiled and nodded. I took that as a 'good morning'. It was a meaningless pleasantry anyway, a simple acknowledgement.

They sat down and started eating. I looked at the few forlorn scraps of bacon on my plate and picked at them, more for something to do than any desire to actually eat them. Draco and Harry also ate in silence. Harry still seemed amazed at the quantity of food, but Draco had already settled into a routine, grabbing what seemed to be his favorites with practiced ease.

"Elsa, are you looking forward to transfiguration today?" Draco asked once he'd piled his plate high.

I smiled. "I am, in fact, thank you for asking. I look forward to refining my matchstick to needle technique further under the tutelage of Professor McGonagall."

"Well I'm sure she'll be pleased at the amount of progress you've made so far," he said graciously.

"It was only a first try," I responded, "so you shouldn't take too much from it."

His eyebrows raised a fraction. "Ah, well that's even more impressive."

Harry burst into the conversation. "Why are you guys speaking so properly? Why are you being so formal around each other?"

Draco said, "Practice," at the same time I said, "For fun." We turned to each other and both broke into small, _polite_ laughs. Harry looked flummoxed but joined in lightheartedly after a second or two.

Oh, Draco," I said once the laughter had died down, "I forgot to ask you, but how do you know Professor Snape?"

"He's my godfather," Draco explained, glowering up at the head table. "And he used to be my favorite adult besides my parents. Then he brazenly corrected me in front my classmates."

I stifled giggles at Draco's look. He almost turned his glower on me but seemed to change his mind at the last second. Instead he settled for pointedly ignoring me for the rest of breakfast. Harry looked back and forth between us but didn't say anything, just smiled down at his food until Draco smacked him on the back of the head.

Once both of them had finished eating I glanced at my watch. Half an hour to go until class. More than enough time to go back to the dorms and grab our bags before heading to class. I pointed at my watch and both of them seemed to understand. We stood up as one. It wasn't intentional, at least on my part, but still pretty cool. We even got some half-puzzled half-admiring looks from the Ravenclaws at the table next to us.

The journey back to the dorms was a bit more troublesome than my solo trip to the Great Hall earlier. Then I'd just followed the herd. This time there wasn't anyone heading the same direction as us. The dungeons were expansive, corridors winding into dead ends as often as they lead somewhere

We eventually found the dorm but got a bit lost as we headed to transfiguration.

Still in the dungeon, we walked down a side corridor, dimply lit. There weren't any hallways branching off the sides so we kept straight on it, occasionally passing doors. As we neared the end of the hallway and were about to come upon a crossing one that looked familiar my curiosity got the best of me. I stopped and walked to a dark wood door on the left side of the hallway.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, seeing me halt.

I peered in the window but it seemed to be too dirty to see inside. The room was probably locked anyway, so why not try? There wouldn't be anything dangerous that students could access just like that.

I started turning the handle and Draco hissed, "Stop! You don't just open random doors because you feel like it."

I stopped but didn't take my hand off the handle.

"And why not?" I asked, looking towards Draco.

He huffed, exasperated. "It's a magic castle, you don't just go opening random doors. There could be a troll in there for all we know."

I rolled my eyes. "I think the dangers of this castle have been greatly overstated."

And with a flourish I threw open the door. A cloud of dust came roiling out. We coughed and I blinked my eyes to try to clear them. My magic flared up, fingers tingling, but didn't come out. It was just a fright, nothing serious.

Then I saw inside. Metal objects I vaguely recognized as torture instruments littered the floor. What I could only assume was dried blood stained the walls in patches both large and small. Manacles hung on three walls.

The most frightening thing was that everything was child-sized.

I slammed the door, shuddering. I gagged and backed away quickly. My pulse pounded as I imagined the cause of those bloodstains, the screams that must have occurred. The tingling in my fingers increased and two small darts shot out of my palms before I could suppress it, shattering on the floor. Thankfully Harry and Draco were too focused on the room to notice.

"What was that room?" Harry asked quietly as we hurried away.

I looked to Draco, he having the most insight on the magical world.

He shrugged, looking truly puzzled. "I have no idea, but I don't think we should mention it to other people. Let's get to class before McGonagall takes points."

He sped up and I struggled to catch him, gasping out, "Wait! What are points?"

"I'll tell you when we get there," he said, head bent as he walked fast.

We entered the transfiguration classroom out of breath. The rest of the Slytherins turned and stared at us but thankfully McGonagall didn't seem to be in the room yet. I looked around for empty seats and saw three together near the front. The classroom was pretty empty since it only had ten or so people in it. Given the nature of learning magic that made sense. Everyone would need personal attention from the teacher as well as space not to blast someone's head off.

I dropped my bag next to a desk, sighing in relief. Harry slumped down in the desk next to me while Draco took the one on my other side. My heart was still thumping as I pulled out materials to take notes, trying to draw myself up straighter so I didn't look so frazzled when the teacher came in. Right now there was just a cat sitting on her desk. Probably a pet or something.

The other Slytherins, particularly Blaise, didn't stop throwing us strange glances, but they at least stopped flat out staring. The minutes wore on as we waited for Professor McGonagall to appear. The bell hadn't rang yet but it was unthinkable that the teacher would actually be late to the first day of her own class. Slytherins prided themselves on punctuality and though you could tell some of us hadn't had the time we needed to get ready in the morning (hair flying out of hair braids, ties crooked and shirts only partially tucked in), we still were all present.

The bell rang and everyone's eyes reflexively went for the door, expecting to see McGonagall striding into the room, looking harried. Instead, when I turned back toward the front of the room, I recoiled in surprise. Professor McGonagall was standing in front of her desk, hands on hips.

Professor McGonagall straightened her hat and robes, all the while staring out at us bemusedly.

"Now," she began, "can anyone tell me how I got here?"

We looked to each other, seeing if anyone had any ideas. I certainly had no idea how it happened. She probably somehow transported herself through the air from somewhere else, but I had no idea if that was possible or not with magic. It sent a little thrill through me, the thought that she could simply make herself appear somewhere. I could use that to go out of the castle then magic myself away if my powers ever acted up. It was perfect!

Harry threw me a weird glance, seeing my face alight with excitement. In my defense though, this could completely change my life.

I turned away from Harry to Draco on my other side. He had on a cocky grin that he was working hard to hide. I would have bet everything I owned that he knew the right answer at that point. Looking around the room, it didn't seem like anyone else did.

Eventually Blaise tentatively raised his hand. McGonagall nodded her assent and Blaise spoke, trying and failing to sound confident in his answer. "I know that Apparition is impossible in Hogwarts, but did you somehow get around that?"

McGonagall considered Blaise's answer with pursed lips while Draco snorted loudly. McGonagall's head snapped in his direction.

"Mr. Malfoy, you seem to find something humorous about this situation. Would you mind explaining what is so funny to the rest of the class?"

Draco blanched but kept his head held high. This wasn't nearly as scary as that god-awful torture room we'd discovered just minutes before.

"Well," he said slowly, "it's clear it wasn't Apparition. You would have to be an idiot to think that." McGonagall opened her mouth to scold Draco and he quickly continued. "Apparition is forbidden in Hogwarts by the wards, no exceptions besides maybe the Headmaster. Unless Dumbledore died or otherwise was incapacitated in the past few hours Professor McGonagall isn't the headmaster or headmistress. Then if you had actually been paying attention the front of the room, you would have seen a cat transform into the professor. Ergo Professor McGonagall is an Animagus."

"That is correct, Draco," McGonagall grudgingly admitted. Draco beamed, puffing out his chest. Then I gave him a tap on the shoulder, reminding him that he was a mortal and not a god and he calmed down after throwing me a glare. McGonagall raised her eyebrow our antics then continued, "However please don't speak to your classmates like that. I would normally take points off for that and give points for the correct answer so in this instance they negate each other. Now let's continue with the lesson. And put your wands away there will be no practical portion..."

While McGonagall continued speaking I turned again to Draco. He didn't seem to be able to resist showing off for a teacher. Or maybe it was his classmates he was trying to impress. I didn't know. He was right though, so it's not like it wasn't justified. Not that that tone of voice is ever appropriate, but I let it slide. It was funny almost.

Professor McGonagall lectured for the rest of the period and I took some notes, but I'd already read most of it in the textbook. It was basic safety information about transfiguration with a little on the simplest theory. As she dismissed us she mentioned that the next lesson would have a practical aspect to it which sent shivers through my spine. Would I be able to duplicate my feat with the matchstick? I had two days to practice which I hoped to make the most of.

**AN: Sorry for the delay. I moved across the globe, and I'm still not completely settled in. I also apologize for the short length of the chapter, which is also a result of the aforementioned move. I've had maybe 1200 words of it written since my flight twelve days ago but hadn't gotten around to getting it to an okay stopping point yet. Thankfully I found some time today and so here you go. I hope that I haven't lost readers in the two weeks I haven't updated. I hope I can resume my previous rate of updates now that I'm more comfortable with my situation. **


	8. Chapter 8

Day 22:

We collectively headed for herbology, meeting up with the Ravenclaws on the way. Our Houses had a joint class in the greenhouses together. I walked with Draco and Harry. The gentle breeze blew my hair into Harry's face and he smacked at it to get it to away. I laughed, stumbling forward a few paces. With my eyes towards the ground, I ran straight into a solid mass and fell on my butt. I looked up as the person bent down to help me.

I vaguely remembered him from the Sorting. A Hufflepuff, I thought. I couldn't recall a name though. His short blond hair stood straight up, while his face was etched with concern as he knelt next to me.

"I'm so sorry, are you all right?" he asked frantically.

"I… I'm fine," I said. And I was. Just a little shocked, more surprised than hurt.

He placed a hand on my shoulder, leaning in closer. "Do you need me to take you to the nurse or anything? You ran right into me. There are rocks on the ground, and you could have gotten cuts. Let me see your hands, my mom's a medi-witch." He reached for my hand as I sat there, not really knowing what to do. I didn't want him examining me but couldn't think of a polite way to get out of the situation.

Thankfully, Draco came to my rescue. "Can't you see she doesn't want or need your help? We were completely fine before you blustered into us and we'll be completely fine long after you're gone. Please, let us show you. You leave, and we'll let you know in a couple of days."

The boy, who I now saw was in fact a Hufflepuff, slowly started to frown. "I was ju-just trying to help," he stuttered. His eyebrows raised and his bottom lip quivered as he slowly retracted his arm from my shoulder and stood back up. He looked at us with such sickening disbelief, as if he simply couldn't believe anyone would ever _not_ want help in such a situation.

The boy started walking away glumly, then set his shoulders and turned. "I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley by the way, and it was nice to meet you," he said, looking directly at me.

He threw a glare towards Draco and scampered off quickly.

Harry and Draco each gave me a hand and together pulled me up. I brushed myself off, trying to process my emotions. I felt I should be mad at Draco for being rude, but didn't actually feel mad. I felt more relieved than anything. People fussing over me reminded me too much of home, to a certain degree. I could handle myself.

Draco smirked while Harry looked concernedly after the boy, but I put him out of my mind altogether and grabbed their arms, directing them towards the greenhouses.

When we entered most of the seats were already taken. The Ravenclaws and Slytherins had a clear division between them. I saw Hermione sitting with a few other people, animatedly discussing something with violent looking arm gestures. She glanced at us and paused as we entered, giving a stiff nod before returning to her conversation, slightly more subdued. Draco directed us to some seats near the far end of the table, near Blaise and Daphne. Well it was actually near all the Slytherins, but those were the ones that were next to us. I sat next to Daphne, with Harry and then Draco followed by Blaise on my left.

Daphne smiled when she saw and scooted her chair down so I had a little more room.

"I didn't get to talk to you at all last night!" She pouted. "You'll have to stay up late with us tonight and we can get to know you. Tracey and I've been friends forever so I'm glad you're here."

"Uhh, sure," I assented, carefully neutralizing my expression.

She smiled brilliantly, clasping my right hand in hers. "We three are going to be amazing friends, aren't we? I can tell already."

I nodded back uncertainly, not sure how close I wanted to get to her and Tracey. I already had Draco and Harry and then peripherally Hermione and maybe Ron as friends. It wouldn't hurt to talk to them though, I guessed.

My musing was interrupted by Blaise's grandiose voice proclaiming some nonsense so loudly even the Ravenclaws turned to look. I didn't hear what it was but it got mixed reactions to say the least. Theo, Pansy, and Millicent were the only ones smiling, while Crabbe and Goyle had their usual stupefied gazes in place. None of the other Slytherins seemed to want to openly show their disapproval but Draco's nostrils were flaring and his hands were clenched. He really didn't like whatever Blaise had said, or how he'd said it. A few people were throwing glanced towards the front of the room too, where Professor Sprout presumably would be.

Now I really wished I hadn't been distracted by Daphne and her meaningless conversation. Drama had unfolded, and I'd been too focused on dumb things to pay attention.

I looked up and down the table and no one seemed like they'd speak. The room collectively held their breath. Waiting for what, I knew not. Since again, I didn't hear the statement that had prompted this whole situation. I mentally kicked myself. Nothing more frustrating than being out of the loop. My fingers tingled and I tried to calm myself down, not wanting an ice related incident in the middle of class.

Eventually I heard Hermione begin speaking, unsure of herself at first but more confidently as she continued.

"I disagree, I think… I think it's not right to just learn practical things. I _like _learning. I think most of the other Ravenclaws do too, or else they wouldn't be in that House. The knowledge itself is its own reward. And I'm sure there are plenty of well-paying jobs in herbology. There is nothing more idiotic than dismissing something with no prior exposure to it."

Many of the Ravenclaws beamed at Hermione as she finished, while most of the Slytherins looked torn between House loyalty and agreeing with something that clearly made more sense.

Blaise scowled, sensing the room turning against him. "That's not what I was saying!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I already know about herbology because there are a lot of books on it in our library and we have a garden. One of the largest in Britain, in fact. We only employ the best herbologists and I've seen how much they get paid. It's not much. You can't make money with it, ergo it's next to useless."

Draco cut in then, smoothly inserting himself into the flow of the conversation. "First of all, _Blaise_, it is important to recognize who you are speaking to. Ravenclaws. They will naturally have a different opinion on learning than others will. Then I would secondly like to point out that your mother does in fact manage your gardens, which she can only do because she knows a lot about herbology. Would you say her knowledge is useless?"

"No, not at all," Blaise responded, adopting a more formal tone when speaking to Draco. "But you have to admit that we Purebloods have to relearn a lot of the basics because certain Muggleborns—" he glanced over to Hermione, who flushed, "—don't know them already. Then everything after that is good only for a hobby, and not worth wasting school hours on. My mother didn't even take herbology in school."

I shrunk down in my chair at Blaise's comment about Muggleborns. That included me. Which would clearly be a big problem if it got out. But then I saw Hermione being upset by the comment and scoffed. If she didn't know more than Blaise about herbology I'd eat my hat. Blaise's eyes flashed towards me as soon as he'd finished speaking. With him came the rest of the class. Daphne grabbed my arm, urging me to not say anything.

I took a deep breath, saw Harry and Draco smiling encouragingly, and hoped desperately I'd been right about my first impression of Hermione.

"I think Hermione probably knows quite a bit more than _any _of the Slytherins about herbology," I said quietly.

Blaise and a few others glowered at me, while Draco's smile immediately disappear. My heart sunk into my stomach. I must have said the wrong thing. I looked towards Hermione and at least she was smiling, so at least the reaction wasn't all bad.

Before anyone said anything else the door at the front of the greenhouse opened and a large, short, somewhat pudgy woman waddled in, a smock covering her robes.

"Well that was an interesting conversation," she began, smiling brilliantly. "I think that I'm going to have to change my lesson plan because of that." Some of the Ravenclaws blanched but the professor's light-hearted chuckle set them mostly at ease. "Now you needn't worry, I usually give a written exam today, not for a grade, simply to see how much you already know. But since I feel that there are some underlying tensions in the room, I think that it might be best to make a game out of it. Each House will split into two teams and I'll ask questions. Each team will write what they think the answer is down on a piece of parchment, and after a certain amount of time I'll check each teams' answers. We'll do this for the whole class period and keep score. Any questions?"

There were none, and Slytherin quickly split themselves into two teams. Blaise and Draco each formed the genesis of one, with Daphne, Tracey, Harry and I joining Draco and the other five people joining Blaise.

As people shuffled seats Draco grabbed my arm and hissed into my ear, "I'll talk to you later. Try not to embarrass your House again in this class."

I wrenched my arm free and moved to sit on the other side of Harry, away from Draco. I was sure he'd scold me later for saying that thing about Hermione knowing more than us, but at least first this competition would prove me right. I hoped.

And with that, Professor Sprout announced the first question and we began. I was quickly distracted from all thoughts of Draco and our upcoming conversation as I tried to wrack my brains for any scrap of knowledge it held about plants and their purported magical properties.

…Ravenclaw won, of course. Hermione's team finished with a substantial lead over the other three, as she'd clearly memorized most of the textbook by now. Blaise came in second, facial expression slowly shifting from aggravation to disbelief as Hermione knew the answer time after time. With maybe fifteen minutes left in the class and her team having built up a huge lead in points Professor Sprout declared the competition over.

"Well, that was fun, don't you think?" she asked.

A chorus of groans answered her, except for Hermione, who nodded vigorously.

"Okay," she sighed, "I'm going to give you the rest of the time to look around. Just remember, don't touch anything!"

Her stern tone, the first less than perfectly nice and welcoming thing she'd said all day, ensured that at least most of us would obey her.

I tried to make my way over to Hermione to congratulate her but couldn't make it through the crowd before Draco took hold of my arm once again. He yanked me over to the corner then confronted me.

"Elsa," he began, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking into my eyes, "please stop making it so obvious you aren't a Pureblood and weren't raised your whole life to be a Slytherin. Did you hear Professor Snape last night? Nothing comes before Slytherin. Nothing. Therefore, you don't say that Hermione knows more than Slytherins, especially in a way that makes one of us look bad. You can admit it if pressed, diplomatically. But you don't just state it like that. Even if it's blatantly obvious in hindsight." And with that he threw a ridiculously admiring glance at Hermione.

I felt a brief, irrational surge of jealousy at the way he looked at her. _No. _He'd just criticized me and basically told me I was stupid when I knew exactly what I was doing. Which was giving Hermione a way to show off without seeming like a know-it-all who flaunted her knowledge at every opportunity, and letting her do it in a way that made Slytherins see her as someone to be respected and potentially allied with instead of just another uppity Muggleborn.

Okay. Who was I kidding? I just didn't like what Blaise was saying and Hermione seemed clearly smarter than him. So I said so. It just worked out amazingly. And now I was fed up with Draco's constant superiority.

"Yes, Draco." I rolled my eyes. "I'll make sure not to impugn Slytherin's collective intelligence or other positive characteristics in the future. Even if the whole situation worked out much better than it otherwise would have."

"That may be true," he allowed, "but I really doubt you planned it that way. And I wouldn't be so sure it's better for you personally. Now your roommates think you're not entirely loyal to Slytherin."

I looked over to where Daphne and Tracey sat, and sure enough they were whispering and pointing at me with alarming frequency.

I huffed. "Whatever, Draco. I'll try to behave better in the future." And with another roll of my eyes I moved towards where Harry was carefully examining some red leafed plant with black spots, trying to not look like he was eavesdropping.

Harry looked at me worriedly. "Draco's a git sometimes, isn't he?"

"Yeah, a bit." I smiled, suppressing any desire to defend Draco. "But it's not too bad most of the time. He's nice too. Don't forget he paid for all my school supplies."

Harry grimaced. "Don't feel like you owe him or anything and hang around with him just because of that."

"I won't. We three are friends, that's all."

"Yeah." Harry moved on to the next plant in the row. "We are. And when Draco gets annoying like this we just leave him on his own."

I smiled back at him and we continued looking at the different plants. They seemed like they might be interesting but I couldn't imagine spending a whole year learning about them.

We moved on down the row, intent on the plants, until we bumped into a Ravenclaw.

"What are you doing?" he asked, sneering.

"Umm, same thing you are," I replied, startled by the venom in the boy's voice.

He snarled. "I meant what is Harry doing is Slytherin. Such a traitor, he's supposed to be a hero. Why would he be in the House of snakes unless he was evil?"

I glanced behind me. Harry looked more confused than angry or hurt. Thankfully none of the other Slytherins had heard or else we'd have a full scale riot on our hands.

I planted my hands on my hips, standing up straighter. "I don't know who you think you are, but this is Harry Potter. He saved the whole world. There is no more Dark Lord. And Slytherins are just normal people. Well not average people, but certainly not evil. So just stop."

I held my breath, hoping he'd back down. Other people were starting to stare, including a tiny girl standing behind this brutish boy. The boy got a positively nasty look in his eye and started reaching for his wand. I felt my pulse accelerate as my fingers tingled, ice at the ready. The boy pulled out his wand and started raising it but before he finished he suddenly wasn't there anymore.

I took a step back, stumbling. The air whooshed into the formerly occupied space, momentarily sucking me forward. I looked around wildly and spotted the boy on the other side of the table, wand out and pointed at nothing, fuming. I whirled around took in Harry, fists clenched, head bowed but face screwed up in anger. He'd done that.

And just as quickly as the boy disappeared a new drama unfolded .The plant two in front of me, the one directly in front of the small Asian girl, began spitting blue, gooey globs at her. The aquamarine goo flew through the air in a multitude of droplets and the girl moved her hands to shield her face. I raised my hand to do what I could to stop them, panicking once again.

Again it turned out to be unnecessary. A wave of fire incinerated the drops. The flames seemed to spontaneously come from the girl in a mass and disappear just as quickly. But that's not what I saw. From my prime vantage point I saw an Indian girl, the one Hermione had been talking to earlier, point her finger at the scene and scrunch her face in concentration right before the fire came. Her facial expression seemed remarkably similar to mine when I happened to catch a glimpse of myself using my powers in the mirror.

Hmm, maybe there were more people with Elemental powers in the school. Interesting. Something I'd have to think about in the future. After the screaming and shouting stopped.

"Su Li, are you okay?" a Ravenclaw girl shrieked, rushing to the aid of her friend.

I backed quickly away as Ravenclaw and Professor Sprout surrounding Su Li. Even that nasty other boy, who I heard being called Terry Boot, moved to help.

After much bustle and numerous diagnostic spells on the part of Professor Sprout, Su Li was pronounced perfectly alright, if a bit startled. I saw quite a few Ravenclaws glaring at Slytherin as if we had a part to play in this, until Su Li herself saw fit to ask what caused the plant to spit like that.

"Oh don't worry," the professor replied hurriedly, "it should never normally behave like that. Thought you may not have noticed, the environment of this greenhouse is carefully controlled." She gestured upwards to some strange glowing contraptions. "That particular plant dislikes wind or strong movement in the air. I would venture to say that the air displacement from the transportation of Mr. Boot caused that."

Hermione raised her hand but didn't wait to be called on. "But professor," Hermione blurted out, "how did he get to the other side of the room in the first place? And then the fire which came out of nowhere. Were those both accidental magic?"

Professor Sprout nodded, looking at Harry and Su Li. "If I had to guess, I'd say that they were. Accidental magic generally is performed by people with little or no formal training in magic, when they are in a dangerous or hazardous situation. There is generally little or no control to the magic. It's almost always brutish or absolute in some way. It expresses emotion."

Hermione nodded at the answer, mouth moving as she mumbled to herself.

Professor Sprout glanced at the clock. "Oh!" she said, surprised. "Class is over. You're dismissed. No homework for Thursday. See you then!"

I found Draco and Harry and we settled back into our usual formation outside the greenhouse, all exhausted from the drama that'd occurred.

Unfortunately the drama wasn't quite through. Hermione tapped me on the shoulder as we climbed the stairs to the entrance hall. I turned around and she gestured off to the side of the path. I waved Draco and Harry off, as they'd started to follow. Draco shrugged and went on into the building, and Harry followed after a glance back at me.

Hermione drummed her foot impatiently as she waited for me to join her in a small alcove.

When I finally reached her she burst out, "That was you on the boat, wasn't it?"

I had to think for a few seconds before understanding what she was talking about and internally panicking.

"What was?" I asked.

"Oh you know what I'm talking about." She crossed her arms. "The poles that stopped the boat from tipping when we crossed the lake on the first night here. Last night. Those weren't accidental magic."

I floundered for something to say to convince her otherwise. "Why do you think that? Those could have been accidental magic."

"Not according to Professor Sprout," Hermione said confidently. "They were way too controlled, and it doesn't seem plausible that emotions would manifest themselves as evenly spaced poles of ice. I think it's more likely that you did something. You seemed to know the most about them."

I sighed. My secret couldn't stay safe forever, and Hermione wasn't too bad of an option to know about it.

"How about this? I'll talk to you at the end of the week and tell you everything I know. Just come and find me on Friday."

Hermione furrowed her brows, thinking. I didn't know whether she would accept or reject my offer when her friend from before, the one who'd done the fire, called to her.

Hermione yelled back, "Just a second, Padma," then turned back to me. "Friday after lunch I'll find you. After afternoon classes. Okay?"

I nodded. As Hermione moved away to catch up with Padma, I said quietly, "And you might want to look more carefully at those close to you before you go on a witch-hunt for special powers in other Houses."

* * *

**AN: Again, I apologize for the length of time between chapters. I've moved places four times since I last published a chapter and have gotten more used to my new country. Finally got settled last Sunday night and got all the detailed finalized on Wednesday, while also being busy with work. Yes, I'm making excuses. I wrote most of this chapter yesterday and today. 2,300 today. I'm sorry if it felt like not much happened and I will try to move ahead with the main plot, as well as make the chapters longer, but I'm just having so much fun playing with the characters and setting up things for later. So thanks for reading, and I really appreciate reviews. **


	9. Chapter 9

Day 22

After returning my stuff to my room, I sat down on a couch in the common room, exhausted. I slumped back in my seat, just wanting to go to sleep. My eyes blinked a few times then shut almost out of my control. My thoughts whirled through the past twenty four hours without focusing on anything. Images flashed in front of my eyes. Waking up at the Leaky Cauldron. Flooing to King's Cross. Taking the train, meeting Ron and Hermione. That awful boat ride (I still don't know why they put us through that). Then my first bit of real, wanded magic performed, that transfiguration of the match. A good night's rest and the torture corridor, transfiguration and herbology. Hermione figuring out my secret, at least partially. And now I was here. Lying on the couch. Partially waiting for dinner.

I felt a hand placed on my shoulder and moved to shake it off, not wanting to be disturbed.

"Oh sit up straight Elsa," Draco said cheerfully. "At least pretend you care. Some people are staring at you."

I was almost, but not quite, too tired to give a, well, you know. My eyes opened blearily and I took in Draco and Harry standing in front of me, both smirking. I frowned up at them.

"Go away, I'm tired," I moaned as I pushed myself more upright, straightening out my robes as I did so.

Draco sat down on one side of me eagerly and Harry sat on the other, a little more hesitantly.

Draco stared at me, quirking his brow, waiting for me to begin speaking. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to start unless prompted.

He heaved a huge sigh and rolled his eyes right back at me. "What did that Granger girl want after Herbology?"

I snorted. "You sounded practically in love earlier when you talked about her. Now she's just 'that Granger girl'?"

Draco flushed and messed with his hair self-consciously. "I don't have a crush on her, if that's what you're suggesting. I merely think that she has some talents that may prove useful to Slytherin."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what you want from her." I crossed my arms, staring at Draco. "That and not some cozy alone time in the library. Reading old textbooks, the dusty textbooks causing her to sneeze and wrinkle her nose just so. She catching you staring, asking you what the matter is, you confessing your love for her and her saying the same to you. A first kiss in the history section. Not sure what you plan to do about the fact that she's Muggleborn and carries no political weight or alliance, but you're smart, I'm sure you'll figure that out."

Draco glowered at me now, seriously mad. I'd started that scenario as a joke but it got more serious and _venomous_ as it went on, a tint of jealousy leaking into my voice.

He stood up and moved to the arm chair a few feet away, pursing his lips.

"First of all, to insinuate that I'd ever date a Muggleborn is ridiculous," he began. "My father would kill me, not to mention the political standing of my family and their place in existing circles would immediately disappear." Draco let out a breath, then continued. "Then after her performance in herbology I and the rest of the Slytherins see Hermione as someone to admire. She has talent. Elsa, you really don't know anything about House politics and interactions. As a matter of fact neither does Hermione, but that's beside the point. I do _not_," and he put extra emphasis on the word, "have any sort of crush on Hermione."

I was taken aback by Draco's response but it was at least somewhat warranted after I'd gone so far with my part. I felt bad for that. Especially doing it in public where anyone could overhear. Even rumors of that sort could be disastrous.

"Okay, okay," I relented. "Sorry I mentioned it. Hermione just wanted to talk to me about the thing that happened with the fire and accidental magic. She's thought there was something weird about the fire that happened that put out the plant. Like it was too directed or something. I didn't really understand."

Draco looked more contrite after my apology. "It's okay Elsa. You don't need to apologize, we were just joking around. But that's interesting Hermione was interested in that. Typical Ravenclaw."

Harry broke in then. "Yeah, those Ravenclaws. Such nutters."

I looked at him strangely but both Draco and I laughed a little, as the comment deserved. It was a weird interruption though.

After some more small talk Draco started an overview of the major players in Slytherin. It was mostly for Harry's benefit and though I knew my father and tutors would berate me for neglecting to pay attention when the political landscape was being discussed, I zoned out during the conversation.

And then it was time for dinner. When people started moving out of the common room I told Draco and Harry to wait for me and ran upstairs to clean myself up. I quickly washed my face and brushed a few loose strands of hair back into my ponytail, then thought about changing clothes before immediately dismissing that thought. It didn't seem like something people did here. That was a welcome change from home, though I did have a passing longing for a choice of formal dresses. Oh well. Magic. Magic made up for everything. Especially if they would teach me to control my damn ice magic.

Dinner began with ghosts. That was unexpected. Ghosts shouldn't exist.

"Oh, but they do," Draco leered, seeing my frightened face.

"Seriously, weren't you paying attention during the Welcome Feast? The Bloody Baron came over and introduced himself to us. He was really creepy." Harry shuddered.

I grimaced at both of them. "I guess I missed the ghosts before. Do they do anything, or just...?" I trailed off.

Draco grinned in response to my discomfort. "They normally just float there, but sometimes they pop out of walls. It's not too bad though, you get used to them. Except for them going through you." Draco's face became more serious. "That's a feeling you can never adjust to."

I shared a look of dismay with Harry. Ghosts that freakily went through you? No thank you.

"But don't ever say that where they can hear, or shiver too noticeably after they go through you," Draco hurried to say. "They get offended. And you don't want to offend something that can always get to you. I don't know if they are actually dead people either, or just the image of them or something. But that doesn't matter, since they can still get upset."

"Oh, of course I wouldn't want to upset a fake dead person." I giggled a little and sat down at the table.

"Really," Draco insisted, "you don't want to make them mad."

"I'm sure," Harry said sarcastically, getting in on the act. "Because a wispy moving image of a dead person that's as threatening as a cold breeze is something to be afraid of."

"Just you wait Harry," I said as he sat down next to me, "you never know when one will blow you… I mean blow through you."

Draco and Harry both burst into laughter as I misspoke. I blushed furiously as I realized what I'd said.

"No, no, I didn't mean that," I insisted, tugging their arms on either side of me. "Guys, come on."

They just kept laughing. The people near us stared as Draco and Harry heaved in deep breaths before letting out another roll of guffaws. I wished I could sink into the floor, feeling the multitude of eyes on me.

Draco eventually got enough breath back to say to Harry, "Just you wait, Moaning Myrtle's going to come with her cold, ghostly mouth and, well, you know. All because you laughed at her."

"Well you'll enjoy it when the Fat Friar comes and does it to you," Harry retorted between chuckles.

"Hey, a mouth's a mouth."

I stood up, finally having enough of this nonsense. "Guys that's disgusting. Just… yuck. Stop it."

Draco leered at me. "Ooh, looks like someone's jealous. Not getting enough ghostly action? Don't worry, we can probably find someone willing to do something." He turned to Harry. "By the way, can that happen to girls?"

Harry shrugged, averting his eyes from me.

"Shouldn't you be asking me about that?" I asked Draco tartly, fed up with his stupid laugh.

"Hey, this is all hypothetical," he answered quickly. "Unless you're saying you've actually done that? Given or received? Because I'd be up for that."

I groaned and turned away, going off to find anyone, literally anyone, to sit with. _Boys. So immature._

I ended up eating dinner with Daphne and Tracey. Well I was technically with them. I sat next to them, but they made no effort to include me in their conversation. They occasionally glanced at me and whispered but didn't say a word in my direction. And Daphne had been so enthusiastic about being roommates when we were in herbology too... I picked at my food. I wasn't mad at Draco and Harry, just needed some time away from them. I hadn't had such frequent social interactions in years and it was only the first day. My first full day with people. It felt like it'd been going on forever, weeks or months instead of just twelve hours. I was exhausted and entirely ready for it to end.

I caught up to Draco and Harry as they left the hall, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

"So, how are you two doing?" I asked, injecting cheer into my voice.

They shared a puzzled look.

"Pretty well," Draco replied eventually.

"We missed you during dinner though," Harry added.

I smiled. "I missed you guys too. You've gotten that nasty perverted-ness out of your systems?"

They both nodded contritely.

"Well good." I said firmly. And I added so they wouldn't think I was a completely prude, "Because I couldn't handle that bullshit for another minute."

Draco snickered while Harry looked utterly befuddled.

I kept on the same vacant smile but grinned wildly inside. It always due to surprise people after they'd embarrassed you.

And with that I let go of them and hurried away, making short time back to the common room.

I let out a sigh of relief when I finally shut the door to the dorm room, leaning against it and sinking down until I was seated. I could barely believe Draco and Harry actually fell for that. Then again, I'd probably been overthinking the whole situation. I was a little peeved at them, had some time alone, and then rejoined them. There wasn't a need to reassert my dominance or authority or presence or whatever I did. Yet that's what I'd been taught to do. Never let them forget you. Don't let them think they've won for an instant, unless you plan to turn the tables again in the future. And I thought the sooner done the better. So I'd done that, overwhelmed them, left them not knowing what to think. Always good to be unpredictable.

After taking a minute to relax on the floor I stood up and changed. My robes felt so good to strip off, though they weren't constraining or anything. Just a bit heavy for the summer heat. I lay on my bed in my underwear for a few minutes before remembering I wasn't at home anymore and shared this room. As such I threw on a nightgown, waiting for Daphne and Tracey. After my confrontation with Harry and Draco I felt like I could do anything. I wanted to keep up the streak of positive (for me) social interactions.

Daphne and Tracey entered a minute or two after I'd gotten dressed. They both broke their conversation momentarily and glanced at me before resuming it like I wasn't there. This kept up for a few minutes and eventually I got impatient just waiting so I took out a textbook. That brought another glance from them. Another dismissal.

I couldn't concentrate on the book with them there, but I couldn't let them know that either. So I pretended to be absolutely enthralled with the A History of Magic, which didn't actually discuss magic except in passing. It was basically a history textbook. Not the best thing to read when you're in an easily distractible situation.

Finally both of them, by some unspoken or inaudible agreement, went to their trunks, grabbed night clothes, and changed. I was a little surprised they didn't go to the bathroom or anything, but then what did I know about social standards? The only person I'd been in a similar situation with was Anna, which wasn't really comparable at all.

Daphne sat back down on her bed, staring purposefully at me, while Tracey busied herself with fixing her hair and straightening her glasses.

"Okay, you can relax," Daphne said after what felt like ages. "We're done examining you. You pass."

Wait… what? Pass what?

Tracey must have noticed my puzzled gaze because she rushed to say, "Sorry Daphne's so weird. I didn't want to do this but she pushed me to. You're now our friend, I guess." She averted her eyes shyly at that.

I smiled a little, still confused but at least not feeling as unwelcome.

Daphne rounded on Tracey, a spark of somewhat false fury in her eyes. "Why'd you do that?! We had this all planned out. You can't just go blowing our whole plan." Tracey quailed under her sharp gaze.

I involuntarily snickered as she said, 'blow', reminded of Draco and Harry earlier. She looked to me and I quickly stilled my expression.

"But anyway," Daphne said to me, "We can be friends now. Alright?"

I nodded, amused now that I knew what was going on.

We talked for a bit longer, I carefully avoiding any mention of my background or blood status. I'm sure I maneuvered the conversation away from that territory often enough that they'd question me harder about it another time but by the end I was too tired to care. When Daphne finally decided it was time to stop talking I fell asleep almost instantaneously.

**AN: Thanks to all everyone who has reviewed and is still reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

Day 23:

On Wednesday I woke bright and early once again. I briefly pondered whether getting up early yesterday had been I was so tired last night but dismissed that theory. Yesterday had been long and exhausting. That's all there was to it. I didn't need more sleep.

I saw the curtains shrouding my bed and brushed them aside with vigor, imagining them as the many worries and preoccupations cluttering my mind. I stretched as I got out of bed, reaching upwards. Besides the small amounts of stress about my numerous newly created secrets, I felt fine. Good, in fact. I'd normally be a bit frazzled in a situation like this, with my powers going haywire, but nothing of that sort happened.

I dressed for the day, tucking my wand into an outside pocket of my robe. I'd brought it to my bed with me. Why, I had no idea. It wasn't a weapon yet. The only magic I could do with it was half of a transfiguration. But it still comforted me sleeping in a new environment.

My schedule remained where I'd left it: in the other front exterior pocket of my robe. First on the list was flying. And I was wearing a robe. Flying. Huhh.

Momentary panic. I had to wear a robe with nothing underneath flying. What kind of idiocy was this? Sitting on a broomstick, robe flapping in the wind, (for I'd seen the front of a newspaper with a moving picture of some people playing a sport called Quidditch). I didn't want Draco to see my underwear.

No! I hastened to correct myself. I didn't want anyone seeing my underwear. At least no boys. There wasn't anything special about Draco. I couldn't have a crush on him yet. I didn't know him well enough. I told myself that and put it out of my head, returning to the more pressing problem of the robe flying up in the wind and everyone seeing me practically naked.

And then I remembered I had friends. Well not those friends, I wasn't going to ask Draco or Harry about this.

Daphne and Tracey slept peacefully, hands tucked under their heads like little babes. Almost adorable, how they were sound sleep.

Well I had a more important issue. I moved quietly towards Tracey's bed before remembering I was going to wake her up. Then I stopped walking quietly. Tracey had been my choice over Daphne only because Daphne was so excitable. She seemed more likely to tease me about it in the future. Because that's what friends do, at least in her mind.

I reached my hand out and shook Tracey's shoulder gently. "Hey Tracey, I have a question," I whispered.

Tracey's eyes shot open and she blinked a few times, trying to process what I said.

"What is it?" she said eventually, eyes still fluttering rapidly.

I realized she needed her glasses and hastily handed them to her. She put them on and thanked me, propping herself on her elbow awkwardly. Once positioned she waited patiently for me to proceed, seeming to not want to speak again.

I looked towards Daphne, making sure she was still asleep.

"So we have flying lessons first, right?" I asked to clarify.

"Uh, yeah," Tracey replied, "I think so."

I waited for her to keep talking but she didn't. I sighed, pulled together my scraps of courage, and continued.

"We fly in robes? Like these?" I gestured to mine. "With nothing underneath?"

Tracey flushed a little but nodded and opened her mouth. No words came out. She closed it, collected herself, them begun speaking again.

"Yeah, we fly like that," Tracey said finally. "You… you do have underwear on underneath, right?"

I nodded hastily. The heat rose to my cheeks and ears, a strange feeling given that I normally felt cool inside. Like the embarrassment was defrosting my body.

Tracey averted her eyes, looking up at the ceiling. I looked down at my lap. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad if we didn't make eye contact.

"Well that's all there is to it," Tracey spoke. "You have underwear on, so no one sees anything improper. For Quidditch or other sports they wear special suits and robes but were not going to be going to fast or anything in these lessons. So it will be fine. You'll be just like everyone else, which is all that matters."

I reluctantly agreed, nodding. Tracey lay her head back down on the pillow which I took as my dismissal. I took care of my morning bathroom business then headed down to the common room, a new nervousness filling my stomach with butterflies. I didn't entirely believe flying class would be alright, but I couldn't do anything about it. My face felt hot just remembering the talk while my fingers were cold, my magic, my power on edge, feeding off my tension.

I didn't meet anyone I knew on my walk so I took the time going to the Great Hall to compose myself.

It wasn't though the flying thing was a huge problem. It didn't matter. It was irrelevant.

Now if I just actually believed that. Saying it was one thing but actually living it was another. The butterflies swam around in the empty pit that was my stomach. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. And by the time I'd finished working out the nuances of that metaphor the Great Hall loomed ahead, the doors thrust wide, like usual.

The tables, as a whole, were about half empty, or full if that's how you wanted to look at it. There didn't seem to be much in the way of conversation going on as most people hunched over their food, rubbing sleep out of their eyes every few bites. My second night at Hogwarts. I felt better rested than I had yesterday. Yesterday at breakfast I'd had that "fight" with Draco and Harry. Wait no that was dinner. Or was it lunch? I didn't remember. Because they'd been making those perverted comments then I left and caught up to them afterwards and surprised them and then went to the dorms… it was probably dinner. I needed to get my head checked if I forgot stuff this easily. No matter.

Draco and Harry were already at the Slytherin table when I entered the hall. I did a double take for a second. Not because they were at the Slytherin table; I couldn't imagine Draco anywhere else, but that they'd woken up and gotten downstairs before me. My roommates had all been asleep when I'd left and yesterday the boys woke after me so I just assumed they were slightly later risers.

As I approached them I noticed they were sharing a newspaper, crouching over it. Engrossed, they didn't even notice me as I moved to peer in between them. What can I say? I'm curious.

The moving pictures weren't as shocking as they'd been initially but I still jumped a little when I saw a man in a page waving back at me. Wait a second… that wasn't just any man. That was Hagrid! What was he doing in the paper?

"Okay, move over Draco." I laid my hand on his shoulder and pushed him to the side, none too gently.

Harry stifled a laugh at Draco's appalled face. I doubted anyone had had the audacity to move a "Malfoy" like often before.

Draco quickly smoothed his furrowed brows and slightly modified his frown. "Elsa, need I remind you how to comport yourself when your Housemates are watching, and must I mention judging? You aren't at home in your little playpen anymore."

Damn, was he still on that? I thought I'd managed to fix him yesterday. Not that he also wasn't the hugest hypocrite ever, what's with the comments about blowjobs and practically rolling on the floor laughing with Harry the night before. Now he lectured me for giving him a little nudge? Well, maybe more like a shove. But still. He couldn't just get all holier than thou when he got insulted.

My hands balled up in fists. Nostrils flared, I opened my mouth to lay into Draco. Before I'd gotten a word out, he sighed, just apologetically enough that I waited to see if he was going to say anything.

"Okay. I'm sorry. We're eleven. People will give us leeway because of that. Just think though, okay? That's all I want. You to think about what people think when they see you acting certain ways."

No, he felt insulted and embarrassed that someone _dared_ touch him. It was all about his self-confidence. "And all I want," I retorted, "is for you to chill the hell out. Like you said, we're eleven. No one expects us to be perfect. I can act just as much like an aristocrat as you can. But these people _aren't_ my subjects. They're not at our level, _Draco_. This isn't a damned diplomacy negotiation. It's school."

I took a few deep breaths as I finished, my hands ice-cold. Calm, Elsa, calm.

Draco just looked at me in shock. He'd apologized. I'd gone off on him still.

Harry tentatively placed a hand on both Draco and me. "I think," he started, "you, both of you, just need to be confident in public. When my cousin bullied me and got his friends to chase after me I saw how they acted. Whenever someone stood up to them they didn't look afraid. They just kept up the act. The fearlessness. Bravado. So just don't be tentative or afraid and we'll be fine no matter what we do. Most likely."

I snorted, then full-blown laughed at Harry's story and theory. We just had to act how we wanted and not entertain a thought that anyone was thinking differently. That would work perfectly. My laugh became louder as I imagined all the ludicrous scenarios and absurd ways to apply this.

After a few seconds Harry and Draco joined in laughing with me. People might have looked at us strangely but I couldn't stop laughing even if I wanted to. I doubted the boys could either. And later, when asked about why we'd cracked up at breakfast, none of us were embarrassed. After all, we'd just found something funny. People didn't make fun of us. I didn't realize until much later the connection between the reason we'd laughed and our response to getting questioned over it. Harry's idea probably wasn't as ridiculous as I'd thought at the time.

When we'd finished laughing I sat fully down in between them, resisting the urge throw an arm around each of their shoulders'. I didn't know where this touchy-feely desire had come from. Well, I could theorize. I'd guess that it came from my parents keeping me away from humanity for the last three years, barely daring to touch me. That was where it most likely came from.

"So what's interesting in the newspaper?" I asked.

"There was a break-in in Gringotts!" Draco exclaimed, voice light with excitement, our previous disagreement set to the side for the moment.

When I stared back blankly, he sighed and explained. "Gringotts is the Wizarding bank. A bank is a place you keep money. Gringotts is run by goblins. Those are nasty, greedy, ugly, short people with long ears that love money. So Gringotts is very secure. Not sure why goblins have the money since we've fought them a number of times in the past, but there you have it. I'm sure my father would be able to explain the politics of it satisfactorily. Anyway, money and valuables are stored and Gringotts, like my family and probably Harry have vaults where gold and then other treasures are stored.

"Then going back to goblins being, excuse the language, greedy bastards, robberies are practically never successful. Gringotts is the safest place in Britain, except maybe Hogwarts. Especially when you're wealthy; those vaults are deep underground. Now going back to the story in the paper, this was a very high security vault that was broken into. But whatever had been there had been removed earlier in the day, Talk about a coincidence. The strangest thing is just a break in at Gringotts though. It really is supposed to be impenetrable."

I nodded along as Draco talked, trying to process what he was saying. I think the story wasn't as shocking without having the context beforehand. He seemed let down I didn't do more than shrug at the end.

To try to appease him I looked down at the newspaper, pretended to be reading the story for a few seconds, then gasped, placing a hand over my mouth in a stereotypical gesture of surprise.

Draco rolled his eyes but smiled just a tiny bit. I smiled back then looked back down to the newspaper, actually reading this time.

Hagrid's picture!

"Guys!" I said, my voice high-pitched, shrill in my urgency. "Why's Hagrid in the newspaper? You were with him that day, right, Harry?"

Harry looked at me shocked, then bent over to look at the picture more closely. "That is him. But I was with him. Except when he went into Gringotts the second time… he said he had to get a package for Headmaster Dumbledore. Hogwarts business. That was the vault that was broken into later. So Hagrid took whatever was in it for the headmaster."

"And that means," Draco broke in, "that whatever was in the vault is now at Hogwarts. So there's something that someone might try to steal here. That someone has tried to steal. When it was at Gringotts… which still seems strange to me. I mean, who thinks they can successfully break into Gringotts?"

Harry and I had no help to offer him regarding his theorizing, given that both of us were largely clueless when it came to the magical world in general. It would be something to keep in mind though. The secret item at Hogwarts. Hidden, potentially attracting thieves. Organized thieves. But overall it seemed irrelevant to day-to-day life.

The newspaper was eventually pushed to the side as food became the main focus, at least for me and Draco. Harry remained intent on the newspaper, as if he could get a better idea of the timeline of that day and what happened if he looked at the pictures closer. Spoiler alert: he couldn't.

All too soon people started standing up, first in ones and twos, but larger groups began leaving more frequently as time went on. The pit in my stomach increased. Flying lessons approached. My underwear exposed to everyone.

I remembered a while back, back before I'd been closed in my room. I'd just gotten back from playing with Anna. We were a little dirty, a little flushed from the exercise. My mom didn't care. She was a queen and didn't care how messy we were as long as we had fun. But, she had a lesson for me that day. When I told her we'd been climbing trees her previous smile coalesced into a frown. She explained to me that I was never to let a man seem my undergarments unless I was intent on marrying him. And ever since then I'd been quite afraid about this, lest I be forced to marry someone I didn't want to.

Yes, maybe I'd reversed the causality in my head but it still seemed deathly important. Plus, it was one of my last happy memories with my family. It deserved to be honored. I did have a vague feeling my mother was referring to something more serious than just flashing someone but it was the literal wording that mattered at this point. For a myriad of reasons.


	11. Chapter 11

Hot. The sun beat down as we trudged with the Gryffindors towards the Quidditch pitch. For any and all to hear, Ron Weasley explained why his Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, were the best in the league. Never mind that they hadn't won in forever. And that they weren't Ron's team in any meaningful sense. He didn't play Quidditch. Of which two other Gryffindor boys were very eager to remind him.

While all this was going on Harry and I had to get Draco to explain what Quidditch _was. _He obliged, in that condescending and superior tone of his. Not the most condescending and superior tone, but pretty close. Certainly more than the subject deserved. As his explanation became quite lengthy, I simply rolled my eyes and motioned for him to get one with it. He smirked back at me and if anything began going more in depth into the topic of which I just wanted a brief overview.

That stopped when Harry finally huffed and went over to ask Ron about Quidditch. Draco changed his tone quickly then, scowling at Harry's back as he walked off.

"So looks like he chose Ron over you," I said.

"There is never an instance in recorded history," Malfoy said loftily, "where a Witch or Wizard in full possession of their senses has chosen a Weasley over a Malfoy. Potter must have been hit with a Confundus Charm."

I glanced over at Harry, now listening to Ron elaborate on the same subject. He sent me a baleful gaze.

"And what is a Confundus Charm exactly?" I asked Draco.

"It confuses someone, befuddles them. Like, have you ever hit your head really hard and gotten confused?"

I nodded; ice was slippery.

"Well it's like that," he said. "And that's clearly what Harry's under, because there's no other way he'd choose Ron over me."

"I think you're just jealous."

He stared at me, silent for a few seconds. "Not even a little. He'll come back."

"Well I don't doubt that," I remarked.

And soon enough, as we walked out onto the Quidditch pitch, Harry rejoined us, taking a broom in between Draco and me. Ron followed him still in the midst of his explanation and almost missed getting a broom since Harry was surrounded on both sides by us. Seeing the look on Ron's face I better understood why Harry had chosen that spot. No way for Ron to be next to him then. He escaped.

Unfortunately for me Ron decided that the next best option was to take the broom on the other side of me. I groaned, remembering how Ron had behaved in the train station and after with me. I didn't like his overly friendly demeanor. Must be the ice princess in me.

He broke off his conversation with Harry once I stood between them.

"Hi Elsa," Ron said cheerfully, not seeming to care his view of Harry was blocked.

"Hey Ron."

"Hogwarts is really awesome, right?" he asked rhetorically. "I can't believe we actually get to fly on brooms like this. I mean I have at home, but those were old ones and my parents always watched us so I couldn't go too fast. I don't' think potions will be that great though this afternoon. Except that we have it with you, which is a plus. Sorta. Slytherins are still slimy snakes but you and Harry are okay I guess. No, you're nice. Weird to say that about a Slytherin. But then my brothers told me Snape's a nasty git who acts like he has a wand shoved up his arse. So don't get on his bad side. I can't imagine having him as a head of house. McGonagall's great though."

I nodded along through his speech, my thoughts running on their own track. It took me a few seconds to realize when he'd stopped. He stared at me pointedly.

I shook my head to clear out the cobwebs then nodded more rigorously. "Yeah Hogwarts is great Ron. I don't think potions will be too awful though. I've heard that Snape normally favors Slytherins."

"Exactly!" Ron exclaimed. "That's why it will be awful."

"Ron, I'm a Slytherin," I explained in case he'd forgotten.

He shook his head, blushing. "I don't care about that, you're still great Elsa. But Snape favoring Slytherins isn't good for Gryffindor."

_Oh. Duh._

"Well sorry about that then…" I trailed off. "I won't have a problem in potions though."

Thankfully the teacher saved me from the awkward silence stretching on too long.

"Alright everyone, this is flying class, as I'm sure you already know. I'm Madame Hooch. I do not have difficult to fulfill expectations. You may not be a natural on a broom. That's okay. Simply follow the instructions, and be safe, use your head, and you'll be fine."

She paused for a few seconds, letting her words sink in. I turned to look at Harry and Draco. Harry was barely concealing laughter at my awkwardness with Ron while Draco mouthed 'he's a Weasley'. Oh right, well Draco was certainly a better conversationalist than Ron. No flubbed up conversations involving him.

"And now, everyone, place your dominant hand over your broom," Madame Hooch began. I placed my right hand over the broom, stepping over to the left side of it. "Now say 'up' firmly, with determination."

"Up," I said quietly, not wanting to make a fool of myself. I heard a firm 'thunk' from my right and left and saw Ron, Draco, and Harry with their brooms in their hands. I couldn't let them _all _be better than me.

"Up," I repeated, this time louder and with more feeling. The broom jumped into my waiting hand. The wood was slightly rough and bent, much less straight than I expected. I grasped the stick firmly and held it there. It stretched for about two or three feet in front of me and a bit less behind, ending in an array of twigs. It looked just like a broom the maids swept the stone floors of the castle. And it was supposed to fly. Well at least if I looked like a fool everyone else when I plummeted to the ground when the magic stopped everyone else would too.

All around me people stared down at their brooms, with some still saying 'up' and trying to get their brooms to come to their hands. Eventually there was only one Gryffindor boy left, a slightly pudgy fellow. It took me a second to remember where I'd seen him before: the train. That was Neville. The teacher came over and picked up his broom for him after maybe thirty seconds of everyone staring at him shout in vain at an inanimate object. Tears glistened in his eyes but he sniffled and didn't sob.

I heard a hushed whisper from Blaise, a few people down from me in the row of twenty, on the other side of Harry and Draco. "It's a pity Neville is so poor at magic; he has old blood. I guess there's a chance of a squib in every family. That must be why he was placed in Gryffindor."

Draco rolled his eyes while Harry and I just looked puzzled. The teacher had evidently heard and glared at Blaise.

"Ten points from Slytherin," Madame Hooch barked, "and don't let me hear you saying things like that again."

Blaise stuttered a protest that fell on deaf ears. If anything Neville looked even unhappier after that and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. I felt bad for the Gryffindor.

"Now everyone, please place your broom between your legs," Madame Hooch continued. "After a few seconds, when you feel comfortable, kick gently off the ground. And remember! Your broom responds to your thoughts. No thoughts of being far away, or else your broom will fly far away. Only stationary thoughts please."

I stepped over my broom and awkwardly stuck it between my legs, feeling my robes bunch up in the middle. Thankfully they were long enough that the sides hung down and the front tucked underneath. Safe, I think, unless I went so fast the back blew up. It was pretty uncomfortable though, sitting on a thin rod.

I didn't want to be the first in the air and mess up so I waited until Draco, Ron, and Harry were all floating a foot or so off the ground, surrounding me, before pushing off myself.

Stationary thoughts. No movement. We all hovered there, I slightly unstable. I couldn't help but break out in a grin that was mirrored by Harry. Draco and Ron had on more superior looks but I saw the glee breaking through a little. We were flying!

Then the scream came. I jerked my head in the direction it seemed to be emanating from. Neville soared up and up, pure fright on his face. Adrenaline rushed through me. My feet were suddenly on the ground, my descent probably fueled by my fright. Neville meanwhile rose even higher. Could I do anything? My hands tingled with a chill and I dropped my broom, unconsciously taking a few steps back. Maybe I could help. I'd built structures of ice before.

I raised my hands, zoning in on Neville. He was stationary now, maybe fifty feet up. My vision focused on him. I blinked, trying to envision a pillar to support him.

He wasn't there anymore when I opened my eyes. I heard more screams and hands raised, pointing, and aligned them with my line of sight. Neville plummeted towards the ground, clutching with a death grip to his broom stick, face white as a sheet. Within a second was almost on the ground and started levelling out but it was too late.

His feet hit first, I think. Luckily it wasn't his head. The drag of the ground on his shoes pulled him off the rear of the broomstick, his last grasps clutching desperately at thin air as he stretched out almost parallel to the ground, only a few feet off of it. His upper body impacted and he flipped over, feet going over his head, back bending at an awful angle. Like a wound up spring he passed some point in momentum and flipped completely, landing on his butt, falling over, before rolling a few times and laying still.

I, along with the rest of the class stood frozen in shock, horrified at what we'd just witnessed.

"Shit," Madame Hooch blurted out as she rushed over to the moaning boy. "The Cushioning Charm works against falling and doesn't trigger when you're on a broom. We need to get Neville to the hospital. Can anyone levitate him?" After a few seconds of silence, Madame Hooch let out another curse. "No, of course you can't, you're just first years. Well then I'll have to go myself. If any of you so much as touch your brooms you'll be out of Hogwarts faster than you can say 'expelled'."

She waved her wand at Neville and he froze, then she levitated the boy. A few drops of blood came from his distorted form as he ran off into the building.

.I moved to stand closer to Harry and Draco, sick to my stomach.

"That was awful," I said. Harry and Draco nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what's this?" Ron asked, holding up a shiny object he'd picked up from the spot where Neville fell.

"That's a Remembrall, it's Neville's," one of the other Gryffindor boys reminded him. "He told us about it last night. Give it to me and I'll give it back to Neville when we see him later."

"He never showed me this before," Ron said, examining it curiously.

"Just give it to me," the other boy demanded.

Ron sighed. "Jeez Seamus, don't get your panties in a bunch. Here."

He handed the object over. As soon as it touched Seamus' hand it lit up bright red and let out an awful squeal.

"Oh Jesus," Seamus yelped. "Why's it doing that?"

"You forgot something, just drop it," Ron yelled back.

Instead of just placing it on the ground he chucked it as hard as he could.

"Bloody hell," Seamus exhaled with relief.

"You idiot," Ron began, "that was Neville's."

And a person shaped missile launched from beside me. Harry flew, hair and robes flapping behind him, chasing after the small ball, no longer glowing red, now almost invisible. The ball plummeted towards the ground and Harry went after, flattened to his broomstick. He was going to crash even if he caught the ball! He stretched out his arm fingers closing around the ball as it was mere feet from the ground. Then suddenly he wasn't moving anymore. He'd simply turned his broom around, hanging on, and came to a halt with his feet on the ground.

I shrieked, I admit it. He wasn't dead. Harry raised the Rememberall and beamed, slowly walking over to the group. I wasn't the only one who clapped. We all rushed to surround Harry but somehow Professor Snape got there first. He came out of nowhere. Harry's face fell as he saw him approaching.

"Mr. Potter," the professor began, glaring down at him. "That was completely and utterly irresponsible. Please come with me, and leave that awful broom here. Heaven knows why we let you First Years use them after all the accidents we've had."

He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and directed him towards the entrance to the school, robe billowing as he spun on his heel.

_Well, it was nice knowing you, Harry Potter_, I thought ruefully as he was led off by our stern-faced Head-of-House.


End file.
